EGG HARBOR TWP.-- Crew members aboard a nearly 100 foot fishing boat ran into trouble just before 9 o'clock Thursday night as their boat began to sink. The crew's survival planning helped keep them alive.

Crew members aboard the sinking "Captain Joe" radioed, "yes...mayday, mayday, mayday, Captain Joe..."

This mayday call alerted the coast guards Rescue 21 system.

"The system definitely allows us to get closer to any mayday calls, it triangulates the position based on a radio call," explained Bruce Plummer, Public Information Officer at Air Station Atlantic City.

So 2 helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City were able to pinpoint the location of the boat, 30 miles off the coast of Point Pleasant.

During the distress call, the Coast Guard dispatcher responded, "Captain Joe, this is Coast Guard station Atlantic City, how many persons on board."

With 10-foot seas, and 15-foot swells, four men were on board the sinking clam boat.

"The vessel was taking on water at a rate greater than what the crew could keep up with, they made the determination it was an unsafe platform for them and they entered the water," said Lt. Hayes Davis, Aircraft Commander, Air Station Atlantic City.

The crew members responded during the distress call, "We are taking on water…hard, heavy…we are getting our survival suits on right now, we got to get off…right now!"

According to Coast Guard Officials, they took every precaution before getting in the water.

The frantic crew yelled during the distress call, "we're going down, mayday mayday..."

"These guys saved their own lives, they really did...they had every single piece of survival gear they needed to survive this boat going down," said Karen Voorhees, Aviation Survival Technician, 1st Class, who rescued three of the men.

Coast guard rescue swimmers pulled the men from the life raft and flew them to a nearby hospital, where they were treated for signs of hypothermia.

The coast guard says stocking proper gear onboard any boat can help increase survival time for mariners in distress.

"This time of year the water is very, very cold, were getting 60 degree days, but the water is still 40 degrees, you've only got a survival of 20 minutes," explained Voorhees.

Coast Guard officials stress that all four men on board had all the right equipment, were using it correctly and with the Coast Guards system, Rescue 21, all helped save their lives.

Sources say some of the crewmembers aboard the Captain Joe are residents in Cape May County. Calls to confirm with the boat's owner were not returned.

The boat is estimated to be worth $2 million.