On november 22, 2011, at approximately 10:30am, operator left the carolina beach access area and traveled to carolina beach inlet to fish.  After fishing for approximately one hour, operator headed to the frying pan tower area to fish, which is approximately 30-40 miles off shore.  Operator fished until approximately 3pm and then decided to head home.  As he began to throttle his boat up, his boat would not do more than 8 mph.  Operator contacted the coast guard via the radio and notified them of his location and that he was having engine problems.  As operator was heading to shore, he noticed the deck of his boat was filling with water.  He turned the bilge on, and as the boat pumped out water, its speed began increasing, and operator was able to get the boat up on plane.  Operator kept in constant contact with the coast guard for the duration of the trip back to shore.  

nce near shore, he asked for an escort back into carolina beach inlet because it had gotten dark by that point and he was unfamiliar with the area.  Captain, from tow boat usa, then made contact with operator over the radio and instructed him not to transit to carolina beach inlet until a tow boat vessel was on scene to escort him into the inlet safely.  Towboat stated that operator acknowledged this and agreed to stay at his current location until the tow boat vessel arrived.  Operator stated that prior to the tow boat arriving on scene, he saw flashing red and green lights off in the distance which he thought was the tow boat vessel that was going to escort him to shore.  Operator proceeded to drive towards the lights to meet the tow boat vessel.  Approximately 2 minutes after captain had contacted operator on the radio.  Operator stated over the radio that he had wrecked his boat hitting rocks and that he had a person on the boat that was seriously injured.  

A us coast guard vessel from wrightsville beach headed to masonboro inlet's rock jetty in search of the vessel rather than carolina beach inlet because there are no rocks present at carolina beach inlet.  Once the coast guard arrived in the inlet, they observed operator's boat on the rocks on the ocean side of the southern jetty.  The coast guard vessel then got the injured passenger on their boat and transported him along with the vessel back to the coast guard station.
 
investigation revealed that the passenger on operator's boat had put the plug in finger tight causing the bilge to take on water which led to the reduced speed when returning to shore.  It was operator's first time boating in the carolina beach area and he had mistakenly thought he was approaching carolina beach inlet, which does not have a rock jetty, rather than masonboro inlet.  Occupant, who was standing to the right of operator when they struck the jetty, died from injuries sustained to his head as a result of the boating accident.  Operator was charged with operating a motor boat in a reckless and negligent manner.  Operator and the other passenger on the boat sustained minor injuries as a result of the accident.  Operator stated he did not see the jetty prior to striking it and that he was traveling between 25-30 mph when the accident occurred.

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Operator and the other passenger's injuries were not bad enough to warrant medical treatment.
WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH            