HHI boat rental owner, Daufuskie ferry operator charged with failing to report watercraft accident
Sea Monkeys Watersports owner Neil Turner was charged on June 7 with failing to report a watercraft accident within 48 hours of the event, according to the Bluffton Magistrate Court. The charge comes two days after the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources was at the Hilton Head Harbour Marina investigating a May 29 watercraft accident, spurred by a video of people carting an apparently injured person off the rental company’s dock and into a pick-up truck.
The Beaufort County public index doesn’t say if the charge is related to the May 29 accident; however, Sea Monkeys Watersports operates out of Hilton Head Harbour Marina, where the video was filmed. The ticket resulted from a violation of the law governing the rental boat industry, specifically, the “failure of involved operator/owner to report accident within 48 hours of accident,” according to the Bluffton Magistrate Court.
The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources confirmed a personal watercraft had an accident May 29 and that the rental agency responsible for the watercraft didn’t report it. SCDNR said they couldn’t release details of the accident, including how many people were injured or name the company involved on May 10. Personal watercraft are commonly called names such as Jet Ski, Sea-Doo or WaveRunner.
If found guilty Turner could be fined between $100-$500 and have his boating privileges suspended for a year.
If it were Sea Monkeys Watersports’ rental this would be at least the second accident from the company in the past five years. In 2019, two Jet Skis rented from Sea Monkeys Watersports crashed, killing a 20-year-old university student.
Turner also runs the public ferry between Hilton Head and Daufuskie Islands. Since Lowcountry Ferry took over the contract at the beginning of the year, residents have raised concerns over low-level service at higher prices, unsafe transportation conditions and accessibility issues.
The case will begin June 25, 2024, according to the Bluffton Magistrate Court docket. Two calls to Sea Monkeys Watersports on June 5 went unanswered. Voicemail was not operational.
This story was originally published June 14, 2024 at 11:26 AM.
