BOGUE INLET, N.C. – A 61-year-old man died Wednesday afternoon near the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway off Bogue Inlet.
According to his wife’s report to the Coast Guard, the man got in the water from his boat in Bogue Inlet to assist his wife and the owner of the boat with setting the anchor.
A Good Samaritan called the Coast Guard at 3:39 p.m. stating he had responded and was holding the man against his boat, but was unable to pull him completely out of the water.
A rescue boat crew from Station Emerald Isle arrived on scene and recovered the man from the water and commenced CPR en route to the North Carolina Wildlife Ramp in Cedar Point.
Awaiting emergency medical personnel pronounced the man deceased at the ramp and transported him to Carteret General Hospital in Morehead City.
Another Coast Guard crew from the station towed the boat with the man’s wife and the boat’s owner to the wildlife ramp.
The boarding officer noticed during the post-search-and-rescue boarding that the owner, who had been operating the vessel, was impaired. The passenger was tested and determined to be intoxicated. She was arrested by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission at the ramp.
The cause of death is under investigation.
“We ask boaters to use extreme caution when entering the waters within our area of operations because of strong and deceiving tidal currents,” said Senior Chief Petty Officer Ryan Brodie, officer in charge of Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle.
