WALB.com News, Weather and Sports for Albany, Valdosta and Thomasville. Leading the way for South Georgia. | Seattle couple rescued at sea

Seattle couple rescued at sea

(NBC) – It was a dramatic rescue on the high seas when a man and woman from Seattle hit rough weather about 400 miles from Hawaii.

Christopher Miller and Brandy Meissner had to abandon their 38-foot fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean on Friday after fighting high winds and enormous waves.

"We did see some that had to be 40 feet, just huge waves," said Miller.

"You'd go up, up, up and then come crashing down," said Meissner. They sent out a signal and the cruise ship "Golden Princess" came to the rescue.

“They altered course and were on our position about 12 hours after the signal," said Miller.

The two got ready to abandon ship, but they weren't the only ones on board. The couple's two dogs, Romeo and Akilah, were with them.

"We deployed our life raft, we put on our survival suits, the lifesaving equipment, put life vests on the dogs, taped up their paws really good," said Miller.

With the Coast Guard coordinating the search from the air, pups and people made it safely onto the cruise ship.

They are safe, but the real happy ending hasn't happened yet. Their live-aboard fishing boat is still out there somewhere, they hope.

"We're basically jobless and homeless unless we get our boat, so our mission is to get out there, find the boat get a tow, continue on from there," said Miller.

Miller and Meisner left San Francisco last month for what was to be a two-week trip to Hawaii, where they were going to start a commercial fishing business.

They hope a tracking device on their boat will help them recover it and move forward with their plans.

©2009 NBC. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.