ABC News December 1, 2020

Florida boater rescued 86 miles off coast: 'I thought, this is it'

WATCH: Florida boater rescued, returns to dry land

The man who was rescued 86 miles off the coast of Florida after his boat capsized didn't think he would make it back to shore alive, the satellite call made after he was found revealed.

The search for 62-year-old Florida resident Stuart Bee began once his family alerted the U.S. Coast Guard that he failed to dock at the Port Canaveral Marina after departing Friday evening, saying he only planned to be out for a few hours, according to Coast Guard officials.

Motor vessel Angeles via U.S. Coast Guard
Stuart Bee, 62, swims to a flotation device while being rescued from the hull of his 32-foot capsized recreational vessel approximately 86 miles east of Port Canaveral, Fla., Nov. 29, 2020.

The news of Bee's rescue Sunday morning spread after the captain of the Angeles, the 225-foot-container ship that spotted him in the Atlantic Ocean, called the Coast Guard to tell them Bee was alive and well.

"We just rescued one person from a capsizing boat at sea," the captain of the Angeles told Coast Guard Lt. Shawn Antonelli in a satellite call, which was released by the Coast Guard on Tuesday.