On Monday, November 27th, 2023, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) responded to a report of a single vessel accident. The call was along the Lake Okeechobee Rim Canal at approximately N26°48’1410” W80°58’4560”. The call stated that an 87ft vessel had stuck a hard object below the water line, had taken on water, and had grounded itself on the side of the canal.
I contacted the operator of the vessel. OP1 informed me that there were no injuries and that Sea tow had already been on scene to drive the passengers to shore. I then agreed to meet with OP1 at the accident site the next morning. 
On the morning of Tuesday, November 28th, 2023, I arrived at the accident scene and was met with OP1 and PAX 1, who said she was acting as the ships captain at the time of the accident. The vessel was an 87ft Yacht out of Whitefish Montana.
I asked OP1 and PAX 1 what happened. 
They informed me that they were moving northwest along the canal when they observed a sailboat anchored in the canal. They provided pictures of a sailboat. 
To maneuver around the sailboat, OP1 turned the vessel to the starboard and closer to the north side of the canal. While executing this maneuver he struck a hard object or objects below the water line along the north edge of the canal. 
They then briefly attempted to continue down the canal, before realizing they were taking on water. OP1 then used the vessel’s port side thrusters to ground the vessel on the north side of the canal, as to avoid sinking in the deeper center section of the canal. 
 I then took photographic documentation of the grounded vessel and the flooded compartments on the bottom of the vessel.
Once the ship had been dry docked at River Forest Yachting Centers of LaBelle two days later on Wednesday, November 29th, 2023, I took photo documentation of the bottom of the vessel. 
The vessels involved will be referred to as “V1” and “V2” for the unidentified sailboat. 
OP1 and PAX 1 were both onboard along with several other passengers. The occupants of V2 were also likely witnesses but remain unidentified. 
Based on my investigation, I concluded that OP1 was headed northwest along the canal when he attempted to maneuver around another vessel situated on his port side. This caused him to drift to his starboard to close to the north side of the canal and hit the right propeller on the submerged rocky incline located on the sides of the canal. This caused damage to the hull where the starboard propeller shaft supports were connected to the vessel. The vessel started taking on water from these points, forcing OP1 to ground the vessel or sink in the deeper section of the canal.  I also concluded OP1 did not have a proper lookout at the time of the crash and this contributed to his misjudging the distance and striking the side of the canal.
There was significant damage to V1, but there was no damage to the canal or any other property. 
Nothing further at this time.

Lake okeechobee
MOORE HAVEN                   