Joe Ditomasso, 76, Kevin Hyde and dog Minnie were on their way to Florida on their sailboat when things suddenly went wrong. They had been at sea for a week when their fuel ran out and their communications equipment stopped working. Then they started going in the wrong direction, completely the wrong direction.
– I was excited when we left the Oregon inlet. We sailed and had a good time. Then when night came, it blew up into a huge storm, which threw us off course, Kevin Hyde recounts the incident.
It wasn’t just any storm, but big waves with enough power to smash important parts of the boat:
– The scariest thing was when the barrier was broken. Kevin ran up and cut the ropes to get it off the boat. You don’t understand what 12 meter high waves look like. It’s like when you see a mountain and think how high is it? You cling to everything that is nearby, says Joe Ditomasso.
Beans became their salvation
Soon they ran out of water and had to think way outside the box:
– We sucked water out of the water pipes, cut them to get water out. For two days we had no water. I had bought beans and the best thing about them was that they contain water. They were soaked in water and we sipped them a little from time to time, says Ditomasso.
The Coast Guard launched a major search effort. Only after a week were they finally discovered by a tanker off the Delaware. Then all three could be saved, well preserved.
Watch the duo’s nightmare route in the player above.