A family stranded at sea in a sailboat, before they were rescued hundreds of miles off the coast of Hawaii, is telling their harrowing survival story.

Bradley James, his nine-year-old son West and his brother Mitchell were all on a sailboat headed from Canada across the Pacific.

The sailboat engine overheated and a cargo ship was sent to pick them up, but high waves as the ship approached caused the 38-foot sailboat to sink, dumping the James family into the ocean.

After a tense hour, the two men and boy were scooped out of the water.

Thursday, the family talked about the ordeal and the coverage it's getting across the world. "I just came to realize what this was, and how difficult this was, and how incredible it was, and that it turned out the way it did," Bradley James said.

Young West added, "I just felt really cold and thinking about how big of a hole it was and what it did to our boat just scared me."

The cargo ship company said it's picking up the James family's hotel tab while they're in Hawaii.