Rescued boater recalls dramatic tale

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. - The US Coast Guard along with sailors from the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower rescued a man from his capsized boat off the coast of North Carolina.

"I just told God I was going to believe in him until I took my last breath," said boater Dennis Clements. "I decided I was going to start swimming."

Missouri's Dennis Clements is dry and warm for the first time in four days. More importantly he is alive to tell his story.

"I really believed I was a dead man and yet today I'm alive," Clements added.

Clements left Hampton Roads last weekend on at trip aboard his 35 foot sail boat to the Virgin Islands. He says while at sea the weather took a turn for the worse.

"In fact, it reached alarming conditions late Wednesday when I was picked up by a wave," Clements added. "The boat was thrown down heavily on its side. I realized I was going to have to stop and try repairs, because I had a hole in the side of my boat."

His boat was taking on water. He was 300 miles off the North Carolina coast. He was cold, wet and needed help. An Elizabeth City Coast Guard helicopter found him, but before they could get him out of the frigid water another wave capsized the boat.

"The boat did a 360 degree roll over and drug me down under the water," Clements said. "I managed to shake loose when I made it to the surface. I could still see the sail boat, it was about 30 feet away."

Clements couldn't get back to his boat. He floated in the Atlantic for almost an hour.

"So I was alone in the dark, in the Atlantic, 300 miles off shore, that's about as desperate as it can get I think," Clements added.

His only hope was a long shot. Somehow in the dark, he had to find one of the rafts dropped by his Coast Guard rescuers.

"I just started swimming and calling on God," Clements said. "That's when I bumped into a raft."

He climbed aboard. That's where sailors from the USS Eisenhower found him. They, along with the Coast Guard brought him to safety.

"If I hadn't had bumped into that life raft, in the dark and swimming blindly in any direction," Clements added. "It was a miracle. It was a miracle as far as I was concerned."

The name of his boat was "Gloria a Dios." That's Spanish for praised be God -- a name which today has much more meaning than Clements ever thought.