Two missing boaters and a dog found safe after being lost at sea for TEN days

Two missing boaters and their dog have been found safe but exhausted after their 30-foot sailboat veered off course and the trio became lost at sea for ten days before they were miraculously rescued.

Boaters Kevin Hyde, 65, and Joe Ditomasso, 76, and their their dog 'Minnie' set sail on November 26 out of Utsch's Marina in Cape May, New Jersey on their vessel 'Atrevida II,' headed towards Marathon, Florida.

They were last seen on December 3 in the Oregon Inlet in North Carolina, but suddenly lost contact with the outside world when their ship veered off course and they ran out of fuel and power, cutting off their radio signal and their navigation equipment.

For ten harrowing days, Hyde and Ditomasso and his dog Minnie, floated along the treacherous ocean waters heading to the unknown and having no idea if they would live or die.

Their luck changed on Tuesday when the missing boaters spotted a tanker out at sea around 4:18pm, about 214 miles east of Delaware. The pair frantically began waving their red flag that caught the attention of the approaching vessel which came to their rescue. 

Joe Ditomasso, 76, and his dog, Minnie (not pictured) were traveling on an adventure in the 30-foot-sailboat named the 'Atrevida II' when they became stranded eight days into their journey

Kevin Hyde, 65, was on the vessel when it lost power and the boat drifted along the treacherous waters for ten days before they were rescued by a tanker that they flagged down

The men were evaluated by the vessel's medical staff once they arrived on the tanker.

It is not clear exactly what happened on that vessel, or how the men and the pooch survived stranded at sea for so many days.

Family members, who began to fear the worst, were overjoyed when they men were found alive and safe.

Nina Ditomasso of Doylestown, Pennsylvania told ABC6 News that when the call came in that they found her dad, she said, 'honestly I didn't care what else they said.' 

The Ditomasso sisters were elated that their father, Joe, was alive and safe, including their dad's friend Kevin and their dad's dog, Minnie 

The trio set sail on November 26 out of Utsch's Marina in Cape May, New Jersey on their vessel 'Atrevida II,' headed towards Marathon, Florida

The 30-foot-sailboat (pictured) veered off course and they ran out of fuel and power, cutting off their radio signal and their navigation equipment

A map shows their route that started in Cape May, New Jersey on November 26. Their last communication with family members was on December 3 when they were in Oregon Inlet located in North Carolina 

'Officials say Hyde and Ditomasso could barely stand when they were rescued.

'Because of how exhausted they were, they couldn't talk. So, they didn't interview them yet. So, they didn't get any details,' said Sekel, the news outlet reported.

On Wednesday, the Coast Guard will pick up the men and dog after the tanker docks in New York around 2 pm.

They will undergo a medical evaluation to see if they sustained any injuries including, hypothermia when they were out at sea.

Ditomasso's daughters - Nina and Natalie- were so grateful to have their dad back home and expressed gratitude to the US Coast Guard.

'Anyone who knows my dad knows that he has been on the water since he's been a baby,' Natalie said.  

Daughter Nina chimed in: 'Dad has nine lives we joke about that all the time.'

When asked if they would let their dad go out on a sea adventure again, Natalie quipped shaking her head, 'Not happening!'

They now look forward to their happy reunion just in time for the holidays.