At Approximately 5:45 p.m. on June 17, 2023, I responded to a call about a vessel involved in a boating accident that occurred at approximately 1:00 p.m. Upon arrival at the first campground on Lower Ridge Road, Officer was interviewing the operator of Vessel A. I asked Operator about what had happened, and he said he expected high winds to be occurring at 1:00 p.m. 

At 12:30 p.m., he left the area of the lake known as Kettle Top and headed for Marina del Sur. When he arrived, he docked at Marina del Sur near the waste pump where the walkway meets the dock.  His wife exited the boat to get the truck and trailer.  When an empty spot opened at the trailer dock, Operator decided to cast off from the Marina del Sur dock in preparation to trailer the vessel. 

At this time a strong gust of wind pushed his vessel against the steel beams used primarily to tie off vessels and it caused hull damage along with scratches to his vessel. Hull damage included two separate fiberglass penetrations on the rear port side of the vessel. One fiberglass penetration, approximately 12" long, resembled damage that could potentially be caused by the steel beams located on the dock of Marina del Sur. The other fiberglass penetration, further aft, approximately 8" long, resembled damage that could be caused by a direct impact to the steel beams on Marina del Sur dock. Additionally there were several scratches along the portside hull damaging the gel coat of the vessel and scratches on the portside transom with rubber transfer from the padding on the steel beams.  Operator stated that the incident could have been avoided by waiting a few minutes for the wind to settle or by waiting for the congested area of the trailer docks to clear up space.

Elephant Butte Lake
Elephant Butte                