At approximately 11:15pm, Operator was operating his watercraft heading north on Flaming Gorge Reservoir near Lowe Canyon south of Big Bend. He was following his tracks marked on his GPS from when he headed south on the reservoir a few hours earlier. The vessel was traveling approximately 25mph, and not quite on plane. Operator stated he felt the boat hit something and ramp into the air. All 3 occupants of the vessel remained on board. After the vessel came to a stop, Operator used a flashlight to identify what he had hit. He identified it as a square floating dock. The dock had come loose from its original location and was floating in the middle of the channel. Operator immediately headed back to the boat ramp at buckboard marina as he was unaware if the collision had punctured the hull. After trailering the vessel, he called Sweetwater County Sheriff’s Office at approximately 12:00am to report the collision.

At approximately 9:00am on May 25th, 2023, Game Warden met with Operator at Buckboard Marina to do an incident investigation. After assessing the damage to the vessel, Operator and he went out and located the loose floating dock on the west shoreline across from Lowe Canyon. The damage on the vessel matched the damage on the dock. Operator's boat struck the center of the dock at an angle and ramped over a corner of the dock. Evidence of the keel and the skeg dragging across the dock were present.

Evidence on the boat matches evidence on the dock with transfer marks, striations, and scuff marks. Both operator and passenger state they were in the middle of the channel and did not see the dock before making contact with it. Violation of Navigation Rule #5 (Proper Lookout) resulted in the collision. However, given the circumstances, no careless operation was determined.

Flaming Gorge Reservoir
Green River, WY               