On October 22, 2023, at approximately 1:35PM, a two-vessel collision occurred in Lake Pontchartrain (St. Tammany Parish) just west of the draw bridge for the U.S. Highway 11 trestle. Vessel 2, a 26-foot Avenger center console fiberglass boat, owned by operator, was traveling westward at bare steerage speed through the Highway 11 draw bridges. When Vessel 2 was near the western most end of the wooden fender system for the draw bridge still at bare steerage speed, it was struck at its' stem by the bow of Vessel 1, a 26-foot Sea Fox center console fiberglass boat. 

The operator of Vessel 1, at the time of the collision, had just cleared the bascule train draw bridge headed westward when he applied throttle to the motor in excess of bare steerage speed in an attempt to get on plane. The captain of Vessel 1 and his passenger were both staring at a commercial crab boat which had entered into the bridge channel headed Eastward when throttle acceleration was slowly being applied to Vessel 1. 

As Vessel 1 was still in the plowing stage of acceleration, its bow keel struck the outboard motor of Vessel 2 and rolled off to the port side of Vessel 2. Vessel 1 sustained fiberglass damage to the centerline (keel) of its bow at and below the water's surface and fiberglass damage to its starboard side chine. Vessel 1 was able to return to port under its' own engine power. Vessel 2 sustained mechanical damages to its outboard motor and fiberglass damage along its' port side. Vessel 2 needed to be towed back to port. The passenger of Vessel 1 sustained no injuries while the operator of Vessel 1 sustained one minor scrape to his left hand. 

Vessel 1's operator refused medical treatment. The operator of Vessel 2 complained of discomfort in his back. He was rushed to a local hospital by EMS Personnel, where he was later discharged with a possible concussion and was referred to a back specialist for further diagnosis and treatment. N

either operator showed signs of impairment. Both vessels contained proper boating safety equipment, though none of the parties involved wore life jackets at the time of the collision. Both operators were wearing their kill switch lanyards at the time of the collision. Alcohol nor drugs were used and were not contributing factors in this collision. Operation at the time of collision was maneuvering. Type of incident was collision with vessel. Contributing factors were determined to be operator inattention and improper lookout. One criminal citation was written to the captain of Vessel 1 for careless operation (Fail to Keep Proper Lookout), which he accepted and signed. The investigation into this incident has closed.

Lake Pontchartrain
Slidell                       