RedactedNarrative: Incident Summary
   On July 9, 2018, I, Cpl, of the MD NRP, spoke with subject about a vessel accident that occurred on June 25, 2018. Subject1 advised that he owns a sailing vessel named "Irish Rover" that is used in a bareboat charter rental operation. Subject1 advised that a renter was involved in an accident in the Chesapeake Bay on June 25, 2018 and failed to report the accident. 
  The vessel would later be identified as a white colored 2012 39.2' Fountaine Pajot Lipari 41, USCG documentation number 1238979, and named "Irish Rover" with a hailing port of "Sea Girt,NJ". The vessel is actually owned by "Irish Rover Sailing Ventures LLC", of which Subject1 is part owner. Between July 9, 2018 and July 16, 2018, Subject1 and I conversed about the boat accident information he was able to find out. Subject1 advised that he received a phone call from Dream Yacht Charter, herein referred to as "DYC" on July 2, 2018 and was told that there was an incident involving the "Irish Rover".. DYC was unable to provide any details regarding the damage done to the vessel or how any damage occurred. Subject1 advised that he received an email from a representative of DYC. DYC provided no details as to the damage done to the Irish Rover or what led to the damage. On July 5, 2018, Subject1 received an email from a representative saying the damage to his vessel was significant and an insurance claim would need to be filed. Subject1 told DYC that he would need to know what happened before a claim could be filed. On July 5, 2018, Subject1 received incident reports and damage photographs from of DYC. 
  
  Subject1 advised that he was told that the driver of the "Irish Rover" struck a navigational buoy, Red 46, with the vessel, on June 25, 2018 at 0930 hours. He received contradictory information about the location of the accident as it either occurred off of Rock Hall, Kent County, MD or the Sassafras River, Kent County, MD. Subject1 was provided GPS coordinates ( N 39 22.780' / W 76 6.120') of the accident, which he gave to me. The accident reportedly occurred at 0930 hours Subject1 was also able to provide the identity of the vessel renter. 
  
  Operator rented the Irish Rover rented the vessel between June 22, 2018 and June 29, 2018. Subject1 was told that the accident was reported to the United States Coast Guard. Subject1 was unable to provide an exact monetary value of the damage done to the Irish Rover, but advised that it was well over $2000.00 worth of damage. Several repair vendors will be used and written estimates for repair still need to be obtained. Subject1 advised that some of the repair parts would need to come from France. The vessel was hauled out and put on blocks at Port Annapolis Marina. Dream Yacht Charter informed Subject1 that the following items were damaged on his vessel: An 18" vertical crack on the port bow well above the waterline. The crack penetrates through the hull. The aluminum cross beam at the bow is dented in two areas and will require replacement. Two small areas of impact on the port forward underside of the nacelle where the fiberglass is crushed. Various scrapes and abrasions on the underside of the nacelle. There is an approximately 6" diameter area of crushed fiberglass on the starboard aft underside of the nacelle. There is no access from above. The molded fiberglass life raft bracket on the starboard side of the transom has damage along the trailing edge. There is impact damage on the starboard hull bottom aft of the keel which resulted in an approximately two foot long crack that separated part of the hull's exterior fiberglass layup. There is also a 3' long crack inboard and above the crack on the hull bottom. This shows that this hull panel was flexed hard. The repair of these cracks should encompass the entire area which is around 10-12 square feet. The starboard rudder is cracked in several areas and the rudder post is bent. The rudder will need replacement The " plywood shelf that supports the starboard rudder post is broken and needs to be replaced. This will require removal of a DC battery and the autopilot pump assembly. The aluminum tubing used for the steering tie rod between the two rudders is slightly bent. It should be replaced if available, but could potentially be straightened if not readily available. The starboard Volvo Penta sail drive likely took an impact and should be evaluated by a qualified Volvo mechanic. The two-bladed aluminum propeller on the starboard sail drive has bent blades and should be straightened. There is approximately 6" of failed tabbing of a plywood longitudinal partition on the port side of the fore deck locker which is directly above an area of impact. July 18, 2018 On July 18, 2018 I called Operator at about 0730 hours. He did not answer so I left a detailed message for him to call me on my cell phone. 
  
  I subsequently called the United State Coast Guard National Capital Region office and spoke with Petty Officer. I asked Petty Officer if any boating accidents from the Chesapeake Bay near the Sassafras River and/or Rock Hall area were reported on June 25, 2018. Petty Officer advised that he was not able to find documentation or generated case for any reported boating accident on June 25, 2018 in those areas. He advised that the lack of a case or documentation does not mean that someone never called an accident in or that the USCG did not respond to an accident in those areas. At about 1128 hours, I again called Operator and he answered my call. I greeted him and identified myself as a MD NRP Officer. I asked Operator several questions about the accident. Operator advised that on June 25, 2018, at about 0900 to 0930 hours, he was operating the Irish Rover from the Rock Hall Harbor (Rock Hall, Kent County, Maryland). The main sail was out, but the vessel was still motoring under power as the sail was not catching the wind. Operator had set an auto-helm course after he left the Rock Hall harbor. He advised that there was a crosswind that was pushing the vessel towards a buoy. He advised that the helm was set in an area above the chart plotter, so when he wanted to verify his course, he had to take two steps down, away from the helm to look at the plotter. He advised that he saw that he was heading towards a buoy and the auto-help was not correcting the course. He subsequently went to check the plotter. By the time Operator got back up to the helm, the vessel was already on top of the buoy. Operator attempted to pause the auto-helm but it was too late and they struck the buoy. I told Operator that I was told the accident occurred just outside of the Sassafras River. Operator thought that Rock Hall was in the Sassafras and was re-calling the events only from memory at this point. He told me that he had more specific information documented at home and would call me later with the information. Operator advised that they contacted the USCG about the accident over the radio, but did not know that a report had to be made to the Maryland Natural Resources Police. I thanked him and we terminated phone contact.