RedactedNarrative: On Saturday, March 18, 2017 at approximately 1837hrs, Operator was operating his 376 Canyon, Grady White fiberglass motorboat (Vessel 1) on the ICW approximately .5 miles north of the Hwy 50 Surf City Bridge near Channel Marker 69.  
  
  Operator was accompanied by one person.  Operator stated that just before the incident took place, he was standing at the helm behind the steering wheel talking to Occupant, who was standing to his left at the port side of the helm.  Operator stated that he had just turned the vessel around, put it on autopilot, and was cruising south on the ICW at approximately full throttle.  
  
  Operator stated that he was headed for a green channel marker and he steered the vessel hard to the left to avoid it.  Operator said that he and Occupant then fell over to the right in the floor of the boat.  Operator then got up, grabbed the wheel, and began to throttle down just as Vessel 1 hit the beach of a spoil island located on the southeast side of the ICW.  Vessel 1 then ran aground up on the island in a south easterly direction and came to rest approximately 22 yards from the shoreline in a clump of small trees and brush.  No one was injured in the crash.  
  
  After viewing and photographing Vessel 1 out of the water in dry dock, it appeared to me that most of the damage to Vessel 1 was to the fiberglass hull.  The damage consisted mostly of minor scuffs and scratches to the sides of the hull, scratches to the gel coat and bottom paint that ran the entire length of the vessel, a couple of chips in the paint that went down to the fiberglass, and one gouge down to the fiberglass located on the starboard aft side of the hull at the chine.  
  
  On Saturday, March 18, 2017 at approximately 1859hrs I, NC Wildlife Enforcement Officer received a call from the NCWRC dispatch informing me that Pender Co dispatch reported that a lady saw a large motorboat run up on a island or marsh just south of the Surf City Bridge.  I then called Pender Co. dispatch and they put me in contact with Surf City Fire Dept.  
  
  Capt. informed me that marine 23 rescue boat from Surf City Fire Dept. located Vessel 1 at approximately 1923hrs.  There was a Surf City police officer onboard marine 23 and he told Capt. that he saw no signs of impairment to the operator.  Operator and Occupant were then transported away from the scene by a Sea Tow vessel.  
  
  NC Wildlife Sgt. and arrived on scene by boat on Sunday, March 19 ,2017 at approximately 0800hrs to investigate the scene.  Sgt. and I were unable to locate a green channel marker near the incident.  There was a pylon with a bridge ahead sign located approximately 150 yards to the northwest of the incident scene on the west side of the channel.  
  
  Vessel 1 remained beached on the island until approximately 1600hrs on March 20, 2017.  After floating Vessel 1, a representative of Atlantic Marine in Wilmington, NC drove Vessel 1 down to Atlantic Marine in Wrightsville Beach and then to Bellhart Marine in Carolina Beach where it was dry docked.   I photographed Vessel 1 in dry dock at Bellhart Marine.  I was unable to find any conclusive evidence illustrating that Vessel 1 impacted a Channel Marker.  
  
  I photographed a broken off pylon found by a commercial fisherman that had ICW day marker 69 signs attached on the either side of it on March 23, 2017. The marker was found on the west side of a small spoil island in Waters Bay approximately .5 mile northwest of the incident scene.  The witness and caller that reported the incident, stated that from her middle deck after she observed Vessel 1 make a sharp turn towards the east and run aground, she noticed what appeared to be a green day marker floating in the ICW near the scene of the incident. 
  
  On March 23, 2017, I received and watched a copy of video footage showing the incident that was captured by a security camera located at topsail island yacht club.  the yacht club manager, showed me the video on a large screen tv.  The video showed what appeared to be Vessel 1 headed south on the ICW and then making a hard turn to the east, disappearing into the trees on the spoil island.  I was unable to see a channel marker in the video.  Upon researching the latitude/longitude listed on the USCG Light list 1/17 for ICW day marker 69 (34-26=12.12.284N, 077-32-35.562).  It appears that the green day marker referred to by the operator would have been located on the east side of the ICW channel approximately 100 yards northeast of where Vessel 1 ran aground.