Photo: Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hightower
Two men whosurvived being stranded at seasay they battled monster waves, dehydration and more after a storm blew them off course.
Kevin Hyde, 64, Joe Ditomasso, 76, and their pet dog were rescued Tuesday after a tanker spotted them more than 200 miles off the coast of Delaware, the U.S. Coast Guard previously said.
At a press conference later that evening, Hyde applauded the tanker’screw for their “diligence” during the rescue.
“It was amazing,” Hyde said, according to CBS News. “It’s like finding a needle in a haystack in this situation.”
The sailors and their dogbegan their journeyon Nov. 27, according to the Associated Press. But the sailors ran into trouble after a brief stop in North Carolina on Dec. 3.
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The sailors were forced to cut off the mast of their boat after it broke, which allowed the vessel to better weather the waves — some of which were 40-feet high — per the reports.
“I never heard a wind so bad,” Ditomasso said. “It sounded like the devil was out there.”
Petty Officer 3rd Class John Hightower
The sailors had no drinking water during their last two days on the boat, and survived off of beans and the water they were soaking in, according to CBS News and the AP.
When they finally crossed paths withthe tanker, Hyde said the pair were just “hanging out in the boat,” according to CBS News.
Fortunately, Chaudhary said the ship’s second officer “noticed there was something” in the ocean, prompting the crew to investigate, the outlet reported. They later discovered theAtrevida IIand the individuals on board.
The Coast Guardshared photoson Twitter of the sailors returning to shore for the first time in nearly two weeks.
“This is an excellent example of the maritime community’s combined efforts to ensure safety of life at sea,” Daniel Schrader, a Coast Guard spokesman said in a statement, per CBS News.
source: people.com
