RedactedNarrative: On 9/6/21 at 3:59 pm. We were dispatched to a vessel accident at pecks lake where a vessel  hit a channel marker. On the way to the accident we witnessed  channel marker 18 was broken and laying in the water. 
  Martin County Sheriffs office arrived on scene first and followed the vessel into Loblolly marina.
  When we arrived on scene MCSO officers informed us of the individuals on board with their names and dates of birth. 
  When I interviewed the operator he informed me he was traveling south in the ICW from the Stuart sandbar when he tried to turn, left, away from a day marker. He said the steering wheel lagged, causing them to strike the piling. They then went to a beach near the marker and then traveled to Loblolly Marina docking the boat in the proper slip. 
  When I inspected the steering the engine did lag behind the steering and there was a sheen of oil near the engine. 
  While the operator was being interviewed by another officer for BUI, he advised, that he took off the hydraulic lines while on the beach. 
  I am unable to determine if there was a mechanical problem before the accident or only after the operator pulled off the hydraulic lines. operator exhibited signs of impairment, however was not evaluated to be at level to effect an arrest for BUI