Two men, a woman and a dog were rescued from an endangered sailboat nearly 200 miles offshore Tuesday.

The Coast Guard could not hear their distress signal, but a local ham radio operator did.

The 42-foot boat, named Red Cloud, couldn't handle high winds and 20-foot seas. The Houston crew said the boat was taking on water, and its cabin roof was in the process of being ripped apart.

"We knew that they were taking on heavy seas, and that there was possibly a puncture hole," U.S. Coast Guard swimmer Phil Wojtas said.

The Coast Guard was alerted to the situation by a man named James Perkins. He's the ham operator who was in touch with them.

"You could definitely tell they were ready to get off the boat and to get on more stable ground," Preston Lambert with the Coast Guard said. A helicopter made it to them in about 50 minutes.

The last to be rescued? A man and his dog.

"The dog was a champ," Wojtas said. "They actually had a little life jacket for the dog, and you know I told them,the last person to go up, just bring the dog along with them."

The men and women of the Coast Guard said rescues like this one is why they signed up.

"To actually go out there and save somebody that's in distress, yeah -- it makes you feel good," Lt. Kevin Kurczewski said.