Marine accidents occur in a three dimensional medium. There are no skid marks to measure to determine direction of travel. Other than witnesses to the event, if available, the story is told by the damage to the vessels. The ability to reconstruct a marine accident is a learned skill that comes from attending training courses taught by the experts in the business. The forensics skills learned in the classroom are put to use in every accident case. Mike Schiehl and Richard Schiehl have been trained in accident reconstruction. Mike has worked high profile cases involving death and injury to crew members on large yachts and small craft and angle of impact cases in large claims involving Inland Marine accidents. Richard has worked extensive fire and collision cases on yachts and small craft. Once the accident has been physically reconstructed, the causes are examined. In most cases there are several Rules of the Road violations, unsafe practices and conditions on one or both vessels, operator impairment and/or other factors. The investigating surveyor must be able to pull all of these items together to determine the cause. Witnesses, while describing the event, are more often than not, unreliable as to the cause. Witness interviews and recognizing their shortcomings is an important skill.