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A man was rescued on Friday, May 16 from the Pungo River after falling from his vessel. 

Tomas Dubie, 69, of Dowry Creek Marina in Belhaven, was rescued at approximately 1:30 p.m. by Captain Axson Smith III of TowBoat U.S. River Forest. 

According to Smith, Dubie fell off of a dinghy while it was in motion. The dinghy was spotted heading toward the shore by Julie Fleming who called 911 at approximately when she noticed that it was unmanned. Her husband, Mark, found the dinghy on the shore with the “motor and prop going full throttle,” they shared with the Daily News. He turned off the motor and found a life jacket, shoes and wallet in the boat, he said. 

Mark estimates the width of the Pungo River being one-and-a-half miles. 

Meanwhile, the 911 communications center initiated water rescue procedures which alerted the U.S. Coast Guard. Through the Coast Guard, Smith heard the request for assistance concerning a vessel not under command at approximately 1:05 p.m. He drove a TowBoat U.S. boat ten miles down the Pungo River before he found Dubie treading water. A local crab fisherman, Chad Oneal, was nearby and helped Smith.

“My boatyard is 10 miles away from the location where this happened. I just got one of our boats and went down the river. It’s lucky to find him that fast… He’s a very fortunate man,” Smith said. 

Smith said Dubie was “physically exhausted” but had no injuries. He estimated that Dubie tread water for 45 minutes. The depth of the Pungo River where Dubie was found is estimated to be 14 ft. 

Boating safety is critical this time of year as more people are on the Pamlico and Pungo Rivers fishing and swimming. Smith encourages boaters to have safety lanyards. Safety lanyards turn vessels off when the driver goes overboard. 

“If he had something like that and he fell overboard the engine would have shut off immediately and it could have been a very different experience where he could have swam to his boat,” Smith said.