RedactedNarrative: On Monday October 5th, 2020 at around 12:54 pm i, indiana conservation officer, while on duty in full uniform responded to the report of a boating accident resulting in property damage only at quakertown marina in liberty, indiana 47353.
  
  Upon my arrival at 1:38 pm, i spoke with the three witnesses who observed and attempted to assist in preventing the accident. Two people who both work at quakertown marina, advised both vessels were now docked. 
  
  The 2011 24 ft. Landau pontoon was still tied up at the marina gated dock north of the fuel dock. The 1987 gibson crusader houseboat was now docked at their reserved buoy on the north side of the marina.
  
  Marina staff both advised operator1 Was operating and attempting to dock his houseboat at the fuel dock. While approaching the fuel dock on the south side, they could hear operator1 Having trouble with one his engines. Operator1 Made two attempts to dock. During the second approach, the wind started causing him to drift north between the fuel dock and the gated dock where v2's pontoon was docked. During this time, marina staff both attempted to assist the drifting houseboat by moving to the shoreline docks in between the fuel dock and the gated marina dock.
  
  Also, during this time, subject1 observed the drifting houseboat. Subject1 attempted to assist with making sure the houseboat did not hit v2's pontoon by boarding the boat. As operator1 Continued to drift and struggle with engine problems, a big cloud of smoke came from the engine roughly 10 ft from the rear (stern) of the pontoon boat. The houseboat's rear (stern) was facing the pontoon's rear (stern), and then was quickly operated in reverse colliding the houseboat's rear/right (stern/starboard) with the pontoon's rear/port (stern/port) side. Subject1 had to jump out of the way to avoid injury.
  
  After the collision, all parties involved were able to gain control of the boat and safely escort it out of the area without further damage. The impact broke the 5/8” docking line of the pontoon boat and caused a dent to the port side pontoon at the rear. The only other damage located was to the rear/right (stern/starboard) deck (photographs taken). Damage to the houseboat was only slight dents and scratches to the metal swimming platform at the rear/right (stern/starboard) of the boat (photographs taken).
  
  I then spoke with operator1 And subject2. They both advised they knew they have had some issues with the right (starboard) engine, so they allowed the engines to warm up for roughly twenty minutes before operating. Operator1 Informed as he made his approach to the south side of the fuel dock, he wasn't quite straight enough. He then backed up for a second attempt, and he started having issues with the right engine. During this time, the wind caught the rear of his boat causing it to drift inside the docks. As he became overwhelmed with trying to control the boat drifting towards the other boats, the right engine started back up in full reverse causing it to collide with the pontoon boat.
  
  V2 arrived on scene during the end of my investigation. V2, operator1 And subject2 all discussed the incident and shared information. All parties were provided the information for the incident report form and understood all information provided to them. Marina staff then provided me with video of the incident from the surveillance at the marina. According the video, the impact occurred at 12:32 pm. All statements were consistent with the video, and no indication of impairment was observed.