Two missing boaters who were sailing from New Jersey to the Florida Keys were found safe Tuesday after being stranded at sea for 10 days, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Kevin Hyde, 64, Joe DiTomasso, 76, and DiTomasso's dog Minnie were found more than 200 miles off the Delaware coast, Dan Sekel, the stepfather of DiTomasso's two daughters, told NBC10. The two men flagged down the crew of the tanker vessel Silver Muna, the Coast Guard said.
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"They had blown off course," Sekel said. "They were found in the New York area. A tanker was going by. Noticed the sailboat. They were waving a green flag so they went over towards them. They safely boarded the two of them and the dog onto the tanker and they are now transporting them to New York."
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The 30-foot Catalina sailboat named "Atrevida II" left from a marina just outside Cape May, New Jersey, on Nov. 27 and was headed to Marathon, Florida.
The boaters were last heard from on Dec. 3 after they departed Oregon Inlet, North Carolina, on their way to Jupiter, Florida.
"I got a voice mail from him on December 3 and it was really fuzzy cutting in and out," DiTomasso's daughter, Nina DiTommasso, told NBC10. "But one point in the voice mail it said, "All is well.'"
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Nina DiTomasso said her father is known for losing his phone and the family didn't think much of it when he didn't call for several days. After a week however, the family became worried, and a friend alerted the Coast Guard on Sunday.
Officials then reported DiTomasso and Hyde missing and launched a massive search that involved ships and planes from the Coast Guard and Navy. A call was also put out to vessels on the ocean to be on the lookout.
On Tuesday, Hyde, DiTomasso and his dog were found by the crew of the Silver Muna 214 miles east of the Delaware coast. Coast Guard officials said their boat was without fuel and power, making their radios and navigation equipment, including GPS, inoperable.
"We were so ecstatic that they were found and they're safe," Sekel said. "They said their health seemed to be okay. They both seemed exhausted and a little weather-beaten. So they're going to take them to a hospital to get observed. Make sure they don't have any hypothermia or anything like that."
The men were taken to New York where they reunited with their family. They both spoke at a press conference Wednesday evening.
"I'm very tired," DiTomasso said. "My legs feel like rubber because this is the way you walk on a boat with 40 foot seas. Holds on to everything."
The men said wind and waves battered their boat while they were at sea.
"You don't know what 40 foot waves look like," DiTomasso said. "How high is this building? This is what I was doing. I'm looking at mountains."
DiTomasso said his faith and his granddaughter kept his spirts up during the ordeal.
"She just kept me alive," he said. "All I asked the Lord was to see my granddaughter."
For the two men and their families, this Christmas will be especially memorable.
"It's a miracle," DiTomasso said. "It's Christmas. I'm out. Aye, aye captain."
