Two
men who set out on Sunday to deliver a brand new boat from Edenton
to Florida appear to have died on the Neuse River near Garbacon
Shoal.
The bodies of the two men washed up on the shore of the Neuse
across from Oriental late this week. One body was found near
South River on Thursday, while the body of the second man was
found on Friday, says Coast Guard Captain Dean Lee. The deceased
are Sam Puleo of a Ft. Lauderdale, and Jim Surfice, 55, of Englewood,
Florida.
On Wednesday, Station Hobucken responded to a mariner's report
of a sunken vessel near light #7 marked with a life ring or
lifejacket. The Station responded to the report and was unable
to locate the reported sunken vessel. The vessel was found by
searching aircraft Friday.
The accident remains under investigation - what happened and
why the boat sank is not yet clear.
Marker
#7 off Garbacon Shoal is highlighted in yellow |
The Coast
Guard says that the boat they were delivering -- a Carolina
Classic 35' sport fishing boat -- went down near Marker # 7
in about 18 feet of water. Marker #7 is the flashing green marker
off Garbacon Shoal.
The Coast Guard and a team of divers set out from Oriental’s
Town Dock late Friday afternoon to investigate further but conditions
near didn’t allow them to dive. They say they will try
again in better weather.
Diver's
prepare at The Town Dock Friday. |
Captain
Lee, Sector Commander for the Coast Guard in NC based out of
Atlantic Beach, says the two men had left Edenton at 8:30 Sunday
morning. They were taking the 35 foot Carolina Classic, built
at the factory in Edenton, to Fort Lauderdale.
On Sunday, Captain Lee says, there was “rough weather,”
with wind speeds of 30 knots. Still he says, the two men were
said to be experienced at boat deliveries.
On Wednesday, he says, the Coast Guard “received a report
from a mariner of two outriggers out of the water”. The
Coast Guard searched the area on Wednesday but found nothing
out of the ordinary.
Then on Thursday, someone called in to say they’d found
a body washed ashore near South River. The Coast Guard determined
it was the body of one of the men who had left Edenton on Sunday.
On Friday the body of the second man was found east of South
River.
Re-checking on Wednesday’s report of a boat’s upper
structure sticking out of the water, the Coast Guard had a helicopter
fly over. From the chopper, the sunken boat was spotted near
Marker #7. Captain Lee says that from that height, the white
sun shield on the upper bridge could be seen under about four
feet of water.
Captain Lee notes that a PFD was attached to one of the outriggers.
Initially, that submerged bit of orange on the white outrigger
pole may have given the appearance of a fish pound or crab pot
marker. Whether it was tied there intentionally or had gotten
caught when the boat went down, is one of things that’s
being investigated.
One of the bodies was found wearing a PFD, the other was not,
Lee says.
On Friday afternoon a team of divers suited up in wet suits
at Oriental’s Town Dock and then took off for Marker #
7 on a Coast Guard boat. Traveling with them to the sunken boat
was a 28 foot version of the Carolina Classic that went down.
| 
Divers
prepare to investigate, departing from Oriental's Town
Dock. This boat is a Carolina Classic 28, a smaller version
of the 35 foot boat that sank.
|
Captain
Lee says having divers get on to the sunken boat would help
figure out what caused the boat to go down. “We’re
trying to find if the boat hit something,” he says, “or
if there was evidence of a fire.”
Among the things the divers would look for, Captain Lee says,
are, “what position the throttle was in -- was it full
speed? Half speed? “ Also to be checked is whether the
key was in and the radio, as the boat would have been within
hailing range of Oriental.
But the investigation would have to wait for another day. Within
an hour of taking off, the Coast Guard and the divers - who
had come from Beaufort County -- were back at the Town Dock.
The wind was brisk Friday afternoon and there was a chop. Diver
Tex Melton says that the anchor wouldn’t hold. They’ve
put off the dive until more cooperative weather.
The Coast
Guard departs Friday after rough weather on the river prevented
a successful dive. |
