"Of course we're elated," David Zachman said.

Zachman and his wife Bonnie got the news they were hoping and praying for. Zachman's step father, 64-year-old Larry Vert and three other men were found alive Friday, clinging to their capsized fishing boat in Western Lake Erie.

The Coast Guard called about 6 o'clock telling us they found them in the basin," he said.

"They were tired, cold and hungry and they were being taken for medical attention to make sure they're OK," Bonnie Zachman said.

How and why the 19 foot fishing boat capsized is still a mystery. Vert's family thinks the men were holding on for dear life for more than 20 hours.

"We don't know," Bonnie Zachman said. "Larry was able to call and briefly talk to David's mother and all she could get out of it was that the boat had capsized and were hanging on for quite awhile."

Seventy-six-year-old Doug Whittaker's family calls him an avid fishermen, who often took his boat to the lake and friends with him on his trips.

"They usually go out a mile or so and look for walleye," Doug's brother-in-law Nick Koning said, "because they're usually in deeper water."

This time Whittaker took his son-in-law along --- 52-year-old Roy Letson ---which made their family doubly-anxious when they hadn't heard from the men Thursday night. We talked to their family before they heard the good news.

"Everyone is very concerned, sad, and we've prayed a lot," Koning said.

At about 6 o'clock Friday, it seems prayers were answered, when the families got word of a rescue on the waters of Lake Erie.

"We're very happy, very relieved," Bonnie Zachman said. "I don't think mom's going to let him go in Lake Erie anytime soon. Maybe they'll go somewhere local from now on."

Ron Miller is the fourth fisherman rescued. His family declined to comment.

Vert's wife tells us the men capsized once before on a fishing trip in Lake Erie. She says a storm came upon them quickly and nearby fishermen had to rescue Vert and Whittaker and eventually towed their boat in. Since then, she said the men took every safety precaution possible -- including watching the weather before they would head out.