Two sailors drifted off-course by several miles in the Atlantic Ocean after a storm hit their sailboat off North Carolina.

Kevin Hyde, 62, Joe DiTomasso, 76, and their pet dog were rescued on Tuesday after a crew tanker found them over 200 miles from the coast of Delaware, according to the US Coast Guard.

The two said they had rolled into mountainous waves, and the wind took down their sails. “We ran out of water and food essentials as the huge currents pulled us further into the frigid North Atlantic.”

“Do you know what a 40-foot wave looks like?” said DiTomasso, “How high is this building? How high is the roof?” He added that was the wave they were battling against, and they were lucky to be alive. 

The two desperate sailors traveling from Cape May, New Jersey to Marathon, Florida had to cut loose the mast allowing the boat to ride the high waves without being dragged over.

Although the boat rode well and was in perfect condition, DiTomasso said they were “beaten and couldn’t take it anymore.”

At a press conference, Hyde applauded the tanker’s crew for saving them.

“They were very diligent during the rescue. It was amazing,” said Hyde.

Hyde compared the search to finding a needle in a haystack.

The sailors and their pet began their journey on November 27 and made it safely to North Carolina. However, the storm shook them after they sailed from Oregon Inlet of the Outer Banks on December 3.

“We were sailing well and having a good time as we neared Cape Hatteras when the terrible weather came in and started blowing us a drift,” Hyde said. The strong winds blew off their sails. He added that the boat had lost fuel and power and was being pushed out to sea farther and farther.

“We didn’t have any clean water supply for two days,” said DiTomasso, and “bought these beans which had water in them. They got soaked, and we could take sips from them at a time.”

On Sunday, the US Coast Guard was notified that the sailors were overdue, and a search that spanned the waters from northern Florida to New Jersey began.

The Silver Muna crew, a tanker headed to New York from the Netherlands, spotted the sailors’ Atrevida II boat, and brought them to New York City, where they received medical attention

Hyde said that as they drifted, they were flashing lights hoping someone might see them, and miraculously, a tanker crew member spotted something and sounded the alarm, and the tanker’s captain launched a search.

The tanker’s crew maneuvered alongside the tiny Atrevida II to pluck the lost sailors from the deck and get them to safety.

The Coast Guard shared photos on Twitter of the thankful saved sailors and their dog. 

Asked if they could do it again, DiTomasso smiled and said no.