Created: 11/17/2006 5:39:58 PM 
By Kyle Meenan First Coast News JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Two fishermen stranded at sea are sleeping in their own beds tonight, following 30-harrowing hours at sea and a dramatic Coast Guard Rescue.
Duane Grove and Robert Christenson were in a 35-foot fishing boat heading from home to New Smyrna Beach.
When storms blew over them Wednesday night, they anchored about 30-miles off the Daytona shore.
At first light Friday, they were still waiting out 8-foot swells. That's when a freak wave knocked the 35-foot fishing boat "Biggin" onto its side.
Within minutes, the boat was sinking to the ocean floor, leaving Grove and Christenson fighting for their lives.
They had no time to grab a flare gun or even to grab life jackets before the boat went under, sucking their life raft with it.
In the heavy swells, the men swam to a large fish box that had broken free from the boat. It was floating --filled with hundreds of fish and tons of ice.
They methodically emptied the box and crawled in, but not before one of them spotted the boats emergency locator beacon in the water nearby.
He swam to the device, which ultimately saved their lives. It emits a radio distress signal picked up by satellites and ships and planes flying within a few hundred miles.
Rescuers can then track the signal to find those in distress. In this case, as the men drifted northeast away from their home in New Smyrna.
They were spotted late Thursday afternoon by an Orion P-3 search aircraft out of NAS Jacksonville.
In the morning the Coast Guard deployed a rescue helicopter out of Savannah, which plucked the men from the water just after 2-o'clock Friday afternoon.
They were suffering mild hypothermia, but they were alive. They were flown to Craig Airport, then transported by JFRD to St. Luke's Hospital, where emergency personnel worked to slowly warm their bodies back to normal.
It was at St. Luke's, the men spoke with First Coast News.
"And it was rough. we were in a white box. It's hard to spot out there. It just looks like another top of a wave," said Duane Grove.
"One more day --we wouldn't be here. It was too close. Too close!"
Grove and Christenson said they prayed like they've never prayed before.
"And we were praying. Praying all hard and I told God, 'You need to send me an angel!' This is it! We weren't going to make it another day!"
And after 30 mind-numbing, bone-chilling hours in the water --they say their prayers were answered. That God had sent them an angel.
"We were just too cold. It was too rough. I mean, it was nasty. And He did --he sent me an angel. Them two pilots that found me and that's the only reason I'm here! One more day and it would have been over!" said Grove.
And they are thankful for the EPIRB device that saved their lives.
"That's what saved his life!" Exclaimed Grove's wife, Becky.
Her husband agreed.
"It did... and that's all I had. Couldn't grab a flare gun. couldn't grab a life jacket. Nothin! There wasn't time!"
After several hours in the St. Luke's Hospital the men were discharged to head home with their friends and loved ones.
They say they are eternally grateful to the crew of the P-3 that spotted them, and the Coast Guard Crew that rescued them. They are also grateful to be heading home.
Home to a Thanksgiving week that will take on an entirely new meaning.
Home to family, safety, and their own beds.
"It won't take me long to fall asleep today... tonight. We sure didn't get any sleep the last two days!" smiled Grove.
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