On or around 9:00 am on october 12, 2010, vessel one was heading east through beaufort inlet just on plane.  The Victim was stading up behind The operator holding on to the cooler seat.  They hit a small wave and the seat broke loose from the floor of the boat causing the victim to fall overboard.  The operator said when he felt the cooler seat hit him on the back of his leg, he looked back to see The Victim in the water.  The operator immediately put vessel one in reverse stalling the engine.  The operator grabbed the type iv pfd and threw it in the direction of The Victim missing him by 12 to 15 feet.  The operator then attempted to paddle over to The Victim but the current was too strong.  He saw The Victim go under, so The operator threw out the anchor and called 911.  The uscg got the 911 call at 9:07am and they recovered The Victim's body at 9:25am.  He was then transported by atlantic beach ems to carteret general hospitsl.  During the inspection of vessel 1, i observed the cooler seat torn from the floor.  It had previously been attached with four stainless steel screws.  It appeared to me while walking in the area of the floor where the cooler seat had been attached that the floor seemed very soft like it could have been rotting.
BEAUFORT                      