On or about the 20th of December 2023. I, State Game Warden, received a phone call from Operator regarding a boat accident that had occurred on December 13 2023. I made location at the Corpus Christi, Downtown Marina off Cooper's Alley and spoke with Operator. When I asked Operator to tell me what happened, Operator said they were out sailing during the Wednesday night regatta. 

From my understanding this event is a sailboat race. Operator advised me that it was dark, and they were sailing towards the marker (marker that was struck by Operators sailboat). The coordinates of the marker are as followed, (N 27 degrees 47'24.7'',W 097degrees22'41.7''). Operator told me they had the marker on their chart plotter. He said they were going to go to the marker, round it and head to another.  

Operator said they approached the marker on their Port side, and they left approximately 20-30 ft between them and the marker that was struck as they rounded the marker.  Operator proceeded to say they did make a sharp turn around the marker, but they had overturned and headed back towards the marker. 

He advised me that he did not realize because it was dark and he was looking out towards Ingleside, TX. From my understanding, that is the direction he wanted to sail too next. He advised me that his sails were not catching the wind properly and instead of sailing they were now drifting. Operator told me that one of his lazy jack lines caught the ladder that was located on the marker and that stopped them completely. 

Operator was explaining that Occupant was standing approximately in the middle of the sailboat, on the starboard edge of the vessel and he was going to try and cut the line that was stuck on the ladder of the marker. Operator said that the line had broken. When it did, the boat heaved and threw Occupant against the top lifeline of the sailboat. 

He advised me that the top lifeline came loose, and from the way Operator described it, Occupant went over the side of the boat, but never disconnected from the boat. He advised me the Occupant was possibly holding on to the second lifeline and that the three other crew members came and lifted Occupant back onto the boat. 

Operator said that Occupant at that time had some swelling and he gestured towards his right shoulder area of the arm. Operator said they didn't know what level of injury was sustained so they put some ice packs on it, came back in and Occupant's wife took him to the emergency room. He said they X-Rayed it, and they came back negative. From my understanding this meant that Occupants arm was not broken. Operator proceeded to tell me that Occupant went to his doctor and from my understanding of the conversation, Occupant had sustained an injury to his rotator cuff. Operator advised me that he heard about this information on Tuesday. From my understanding this would have been December 19th 2023.

After speaking with Operator on what happened, I gathered the boat information and his information. Operator advised me that everyone was wearing their PFDs at the time of the accident. I proceeded to conduct a water safety inspection on the sailboat. I asked Operator if he can provide me with the passenger names and number who were on the vessel at the time of the incident so I can follow up with them. 

On December 27th 2023, I first spoke with victim’s wife who passed the phone to her husband Occupant. Occupant advised me of what happened. He explained to me that he had gone to the ER when they came in and they told him that his arm was not broken. He also advised me that he had an MRI done on the 26th of December 2023 and they told him he had some tears in his rotator cuff and that he is looking at surgery for it. He told me his right arm was the arm that was injured. 

6130 CORPUS CHRISTI BAY
Corpus Christi                