way to Halifax on a US aircraft carrier yesterday.

The New Brunswickers were rescued by a US Navy helicopter on Thursday after earlier abandoning ship while en route from New Brunswick to Bermuda.

Their yacht, Gull , lost its mast and was then swamped by a wave when they were about 100 miles off the New England coast.

"One minute a wave hit them and the boat rolled over...and the window came out of the port side and the water was coming and they have to get into the life-raft,'' the wife of one of the sailors told the Canadian Press.

Adaleen Hovey, the wife of Gary Hovey, added: "At about six o'clock on (Thursday) morning, they abandoned ship and five or six hours later they were picked up by helicopter.'' The other two sailors were Lori Woodroffe-McLaughlin and Joe Woodroffe-McLaughlin, CP said. All came from St. John's, New Brunswick.

"I swam to the raft and asked if they were OK. They said they were cold, and I told them I was going to get them out of there,'' said Petty Officer 3rd Class Kevin L. Baker, who was the rescue swimmer. He was sent down a 60-foot hoist to pluck the boaters from their small orange raft.

The helicopter came from the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier USS John C.

Stennis , which was conducting training exercises off Martha's Vineyard.

The Coast Guard alerted the carrier that a sailboat carrying three people capsized and sank when it lost its sails and mast in rough weather. During about five hours adrift, the raft flipped over once, and the boaters had to scramble back aboard.

"The waves were so bad that they were washing over us,'' Baker said.

The exhausted boaters were taken to the Stennis for treatment of exposure and hypothermia. They were not seriously injured.

"They were very lucky,'' Baker said.

The captain of a 36-foot ketch was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital early yesterday morning after being rescued by another yacht.

The 44-year-old captain of the Spirit was rescued by crew on the 44-foot Quailo after he was knocked unconscious by a boom for 24 hours on Saturday. He was also out of fuel and water and was found in a dehydrated state.

The man was transferred from the Quailo to the rescue boat St. David early yesterday morning and was landed in St. George's at 4 a.m., Harbour Radio said.

The cruise ship Song of America had to divert to St. George's shortly after leaving Bermuda yesterday to offload a 56-year-old passenger who had suffered a hear attack.

Harbour Radio said the ship had set of from Hamilton for her return to New York City when she diverted into St. George's Harbour where the passenger was disembarked to a pilot boat and taken ashore at 4 p.m.

The man was then taken by ambulance to hospital. His condition was not known last night.

PLUCKED FROM THE SEA -- Lori Woodroffe-McLaughlin, who was rescued from a life raft off New England by a US Navy helicopter, is helped aboard the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis on Thursday.