On 6/16/12 at approximately 3:00 p.m.  Agents were advised of a vessel being sunk and capsized on the easter point of Raccoon Pt. Island.  Agents proceeded toward the area halfway there when notified by Deputy of TPSO that he had recovered the 3 subjects and was heading toward Cocodrie.  Due to the extremely bad weather and six foot seas, Agents deemed the area to be unsafe for travel and turned around to meet the deputy and the subjects in Cocodrie.  agents then interviewed the owner/operator, and his 2 passengers.  Operator advised the agents that they had anchored his vessel between the rocks and land of Raccoon Pt.  All 3 subjects exited the vessel and began surf fishing.  After a while, they went back to their vessel , MI1341BH, and noticed that it was filling up with water.  They tried to bail the water out, but were unsuccessful. Operator then pulled up the anchor and tried to move the vessel into the waves, but the vessel filled up with more water and sank to the bottom, where the waves eventually capsized the vessel and pushed it onto the beach.  Agents did not detect any signs nor symptoms of alcohol use from the adults.  Operator's vessel was equipped with type III and type IV PFDs which were worn by all 3 subjects. The vessel was equipped with remote steering.  The cause of the accident was the extreme  weather, winds over 25 mph with very rough waves greater than 6 ft..
 On 6/17/12 Agent was able to reach Raccoon Pt. and photograph the vessel.  The weather wa still bad and the surf still high, therefore, Agent ws unable to get close enough to Operator's vessel to retrieve the serial numbers off of the motor. The vessel is a total loss.

Dularge                       