A Johnston couple have been cited for three boating violations as the result of a series of incidents that involved their sailboat hitting the Newport Pell Bridge, the wife falling off the boat in Potters Cove at Prudence Island and being rescued, and the husband running the boat aground at Conimicut Point in Warwick on Friday, Aug. 17.

William and Delyse Shakespeare of Johnston were cited for operating an unregistered boat; improper look-out or having no look-out; and failing to take appropriate action to avoid a collision, according to a statement from the state Department of Environmental Management that oversaw the investigation.

“It is my conclusion, based on the written statement that Mr. Shakespeare gave the Warwick Police Department and the verbal statements that they both gave me, that alcohol was a factor in this incident,” wrote Sgt. Michael R. Schipritt, of the DEM’s Division of Law Enforcement.

The couple will face the charges related to reckless operation of the boat before the Rhode Island Traffic Tribunal, where they face a fine of up to $1,000 according to the incident report released by DEM.

The Shakespeares took their sailboat down to Newport Harbor on Aug. 17 to watch the start of their son's sailboat race, which started at about 12:30 p.m., according to the report.

They hit the Newport Bridge at about 4:10 p.m. on that Friday, according to a Coast Guard tracking of the boat provided in the incident report.

“She said she did not remember who was driving the boat at that time or hitting the Newport Bridge,” Schipritt wrote in his report about his interview with the wife.

“He said at some point in the morning they started having cocktails and he fell asleep around 12:30 p.m. on the bench on the boat's deck,” Schipritt wrote about his interview with the husband. “He said the next time he woke up was when the boat hit the Newport Bridge. I asked who was driving the boat at that time and he said his wife.”

Delyse Shakespeare said she fell off the boat in the area of Potters Cove, which the boat entered at 4:50 p.m., according to the Coast Guard printout.

“She swam to shore which she said took about 15-20 minutes and started to walk the shoreline to look for help,” Schipritt wrote. “She said that sometime around 4 p.m. she contacted people on a boat that was moored in Potters Cove then swam out to them. The people on the boat called 911. She was picked up by the Bristol Fire Department boat and brought to shore."

The Coast Guard printout of the boat’s tracker showed the sailboat spent about 2 1/2 hours going in slow circles in Potters Cove, which the boat left at 6:20 p.m. and then headed north toward Conimicut Point, where it ran aground at about 11:40 p.m.

William Shakespeare said “he looked forward in the cabin, saw a quilt and assumed his wife was asleep under it,” Schipritt said. “He drove the boat back to their slip at East Greenwich Yacht Club and secured it to the dock at about 1 a.m. Sometime between 1 a.m. and 1:30 a.m, he realized his wife was not asleep in the cabin and not on board, at which point he called 911.”