An early morning collision into an unoccupied pontoon boat by a bass boat at high speeds on Lake Sinclair left one man injured, though not seriously, according to a Georgia DNR spokesman.
The unidentified spokesman reached Monday at the DNR Region III office in Thomson said the accident occurred at about 5:45 a.m. Saturday after the pontoon boat broke away from its mooring at a dock in the lake's Cold Branch/Rooty Creek area.
Nearby resident Kerry Parker said he didn’t see the accident happen, but the pontoon boat was “significantly damaged,” and there were “boat parts drifting hundreds of feet” away. At the same time, DNR officials, aided by local boaters, gathered whatever pieces they could find.
The DNR spokesman said the pontoon boat was “fortunately” unoccupied, and he wasn’t sure how many boaters were aboard the bass boat.
However, one man apparently visited a local hospital for treatment of an unknown injury, then drove himself home Saturday morning.
The DNR spokesman said Putnam County Game Warden Clayton Baker is the lead investigator for this accident. He added that three “incidents” from last weekend on Lake Sinclair are under investigation.