CRESCENT BEACH, Fla. – Video shared with News4Jax by a fish camp in Crescent Beach shows a pontoon boat as it barrels over a channel marker.
Adam Morley, the owner of the fish camp, said he wishes people would drive more cautiously on the water near his business. He said the marker was recently repaired.
“It was recently replaced after a boat had collided with it last month, so now this process starts all over again,” Morley said.
Morley, who is also a licensed U.S. Coast Guard master captain, said the boat was leaving a no wake zone when the driver picked up speed, hitting the marker head-on.
“They weren’t breaking any laws other than not paying attention,” Morley said. “Thankfully nobody on the boat sustained any real injuries and the boat was able to get back to land on its own.”
There’s now a temporary buoy in the marker’s place.
The marker in the video contained a red triangle and should have been on the right side of the traveling boat. Markers with green triangles should be kept on the left side of a boat.
Channel markers are designed to help boaters avoid sandbars and other hazards in the water.
News4Jax requested additional information from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the boating incident, but FWC said it hadn’t been reported.
An FWC spokesperson sent a statement that reads: “Any type of boating accident involving a fixed object such as a channel marker should be reported to FWC.”