Boat flips, killing 88-year-old and leaving man clinging to buoy, NC officers say

An 88-year-old man died and his companion was left desperately clinging to a buoy after their boat flipped in North Carolina’s treacherous Bogue Inlet, according to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission.

It happened just before noon Sunday, Oct. 5, and Capt. Amit Patel of Shanti Nautical Excursions is credited with arriving in time to rescue the man clinging to the buoy in the channel, commission officials said in a news release.

Patel also recovered the body of Arthur Furtney and transferred it to a U.S. Coast Guard vessel, officials said. Life-saving measures were attempted but failed to revive Furtney, officials said.

An investigation has revealed Furtney and another man were aboard a 23-foot boat when it hit rough current and both men were thrown into the water, the commission reports.

“Furtney was pronounced deceased by the Emerald Isle Fire Department,” officials said. “The second passenger, identified as Paul Brad Brown, swam to Buoy Number 1 and was holding onto it to stay above water.”

Details of Brown’s condition were not released. He was taken to Dudley’s Marina by Patel’s charter boat, officials said.

Investigators say the “rough waves” in the inlet caused Furtney’s boat to overturn and neither of the men were wearing a life jacket, officials said.

Furtney lived in Jacksonville, WITN reports.

The incident remains under investigation.

Bogue Inlet is a channel between the Bogue Sound and the Atlantic Ocean along the state’s Crystal Coast. It is located north of Hammocks Beach State Park, about a 140-mile drive southeast from Raleigh.

This story was originally published October 7, 2025 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Boat flips, killing 88-year-old and leaving man clinging to buoy, NC officers say."