RedactedNarrative: On september 25, 2016 at 4:50pm, i received a call from enforcement division dispatch center in raleigh nc.  The dispatcher i talked to informed me that there had been a boating accident which occurred on hiwassee lake around 3:45pm that day.  The dispatcher also stated no one was injured in the accident and gave me a telephone number to call in order to contact the individual involved in the accident.  We then ended the call and i immediately called the telephone number given to me by the dispatcher.  
  
  As the call was answered, i realized it was one of the owners of mountain view marina on hiwassee lake who i was now speaking to.  She then informed me that one of their customers had run his boat aground but had not gotten hurt.  She stated that the operator and owner of the vessel was a man who was visiting from georgia for a weekend on the lake.  Marina owner stated that operator was very shook up from the accident and was still in the area.  She then gave me a telephone number to reach operator.  After talking to marina owner, i then talked to the other owner of the marina.  He stated he was heading to the scene of the accident to see the extent of the damage to the vessel and also to try and tow the vessel back to the marina for operator.  I asked him to keep me posted on the amount of damage to the vessel when he arrived on scene.  He agreed and the call was ended.
  
  After talking to the owners of mountain view marina, i called operator.  When he answered the call, i identified myself and asked if he was okay.  He stated he had a couple of bumps on his head but nothing serious.  I then explained that i needed to talk with him in person about the accident in order to complete a boating accident investigation for the us coast guard.  He agreed and we decided to meet at mountain view marina on hiwassee lake at 6:00pm.
  
  Upon arriving at the marina, operator met me in the parking lot.  He had two small scrapes on his right eyebrow and cheek and a bruised nose.  He also had a small scrape on his right elbow.  None of the injuries he sustained required any further medical treatment beyond first aid.  We then went inside the marina and sat down at a table to talk about the events which had taken place.
  
  After talking with operator for some time, i gathered that the accident was mainly caused by operator inattention.  Through the statements given by operator, it was perceived that he had left the marina for a cruise on the lake at around 3:20pm on september 25, 2016.  He then traveled 6.9 miles up the lake towrd the town of murphy before the accident occurred.  He stated he had just passed by persimmon creek (point 5) on hiwassee lake, made a left toward murphy, and was cruising along the right hand bank of the lake at around 20 mph when the accident happened.  
  
  He stated that he had placed the boat's cover inside the boat earlier in the day and he thought it was secured properly as to where it would not blow out of the boat and into the lake.  Just before the accident occurred, the boat cover blew from its place of storage and to the back of the boat.  Operator then stated that he had reached around to grab the boat cover before it went over and into the lake all the while taking his eyes off the direction the boat was being driven.  
  
  He said that it was only for 3-4 seconds that he had his eyes off the front of the boat.  Also, while looking back to grab the cover, he stated that the boat struck an underwater object and spun the boat into the lake bank.  He thought it may have been a large rock which the boat had struck.  The boat then hit the shoreline running aground and then flipping back down the shoreline into the lake.  The boat ended up on its top in the water near the shore.  
  
  Operator said he swam to the shoreline and tied the boat to a large rock on the bank so it didn't float away.  A fisherman soon came by and gave him a ride back to mountain view marina where he had originally come from.  Operator also gave a written statement of the events of that day while on the water.  He also stated that he had been boating on hiwassee lake for 23 years and nothing like had ever happened to him.  I also asked if he had been consuming any type of drugs of alcoholic drinks that day, which he replied he had not consumed either. 
  
   In my opinion, there was no evidence that drugs or alcohol was used by operator.  The meeting was ended with operator when marina owner2 had just returned from the scene of the accident.  Marina owner2 said he was not able to move or tow the boat back to the marina that evening and was going to try again the next day, but was worried that the boat may sink without flotation around it while under tow.  Marina owner2 stated that it looked like the boat was totaled and would be a $10-15,000 loss.  Marina owner2 had also taken pictures of the scene for documentation and agreed to send them to me via email.
  
  On 9/26/16, i launched my patrol boat onto hiwassee lake.  At around 8:30am, i arrived on scene of the accident that occurred the day before.  The boat was located just where operator had said.  It was roughly located directly between point 5 and 6 along the main channel of the lake.  The boat was half way submerged floating with its top down in the water.  I could quickly see that the boat had major damage to its hull.  There was a large hole on the right side of the hull, several deep scratches along the length of the hull from front to back.  The skeg of the motor was also bent and broken.  Upon further investigation, i could see the point of impact and path of travel when the boat made contact with the shoreline.  It had hit the shoreline at roughly a 65-70 degree angle with the right side of the boat hitting the shoreline first.  This left behind a sizeable piece of fiberglass - the size of a softball.  
  
  This is where the hole in the right side of the hull came from.  The boat then ran aground and up the steep shoreline for approximately 30 feet.  I could clearly see where each side of the vessel had chipped and scraped the rocks as it moved up and across the shoreline.  It looked like painted lines on a highway.  On the outside of its path were two white lines where the boat had scratched and chipped the rocks along the shore.  Between those lines one could see a single more faint line where the keel of the boat had run aground.  As the boat traveled further up and across the shoreline, i could see where its front made contact with a large rock.  This flipped the vessel to the left side and upside down back into the water near the shoreline where it then came to a stop.  
  
  In all, it looks as if the vessel would be considered a total loss for the owner.  With the damage to the hull, skeg and the water damage to the inside of the vessel, i would estimate that the total damage would be greater than $2,000.00
  
  
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