A sailor who vanished after heading out to sea more than two months ago has miraculously been found alive and well off the North Carolina coast.

Louis Jordan, 37, was picked up by a German-flagged ship at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday - 66 days after he took off to do some fishing. He was found sitting on the capsized hull of his sailboat, Angel, which had lost its mast and was approximately 200 miles east of Cape Hatteras.

'They saw me on the front of my boat standing up there waving my arms,' he told the Today show of the huge German ship after he left hospital. 'And they turned that huge skyscraper around.'

A Coast Guard helicopter crew from North Carolina flew to the ship and airlifted Jordan to a hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, said Lt. Krystyn Pecora, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard.

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Found safe: Louis Jordan, second from left, walks from the Coast Guard helicopter to the Sentara Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia, after being found off the North Carolina coast on Thursday

Jordan's family said he sailed out of a marina in Conway, South Carolina, on January 23, and hadn't been heard from since until a German boat saw him clinging to the hull of his boat on Thursday morning

Rescue: A Coast Guard image shows Jordan being pulled up into the helicopter from a German ship

Safe: One of his rescuers pulls him into the helicopter after he spent more than two months at sea

Heading home: Another image shows Jordan inside the helicopter as they head towards a hospital

Incredibly, she said Jordan was in good condition despite a broken collarbone and dehydration.

He survived his ordeal by drinking rain water and eating raw fish and flour fried in oil. As he walked towards the hospital unaided, he did not appear to have lost a drastic amount of weight. He was released from the hospital on Friday.

He also told the Today show that he repeatedly read his Bible from cover to cover to pass the time but that the ordeal 'seemed like a lot longer' than 66 days.

While stranded, he had dreamed of eating barbecue and organic ice cream, he said.

Back on land, he was reunited with his relieved parents.

'I was just praying about you because I was afraid you guys were crying and sad, that, you know, I was dead...and I wasn't dead,' Jordan told his father, WITN reported.

His father Frank responded: 'I thought I lost you.'

Doing well: Jordan appeared in good health when he was brought to shore. He spoke to the Today show, pictured, after he left hospital and said he didn't know if he'd ever return to sea

Reunited: Jordan is pictured hugging his father Frank after they were reunited following his ordeal

Back together: He said he had been concerned that his parents, Frank and Norma, would think he was dead

Relief: His mother, Norma Davis, said she had given up hope of her son returning 'many time'

Speaking to the Today show, his mother, Norma Davis, said it had been an emotional two months and that she had given up hope 'many times'.

'It's been terrible,' she said. 'You live moment to moment and those moments turned into days.'

Jordan's 35-foot sailboat had drifted out into the ocean and capsized, snapping the mast.

'My boat got flipped and did a 180 on me while I was sleeping at night, and I was flying through the air and somersaulting and all my junk and all my equipment, all my GPS devices and everything, even my stove dislodged and it was all flying with me, all rolling around,' he told ABC News.

But he was unable to repair the mast as he had broken his collarbone when the boat flipped over.

He waited for the shoulder to heal slightly before he was able to build up enough strength to fashion a makeshift mast and sail - but he was unable to fight the strong currents, he said, and the boat capsized on two further occasions.

He caught rainwater in a bucket and, although he struggled to catch fish at first, he learned that they were attracted to his clothes when he put them in the ocean to clean them, CNN reported.

The fish would swim through his clothes so he would scoop them up with a hand net, he said.

The tanker crew said it found Jordan sitting on the hull of his boat.

On Thursday night Davis posted on Facebook that she had spoken to her son and that he was in 'good spirits and hungry'

Rescuers found Jordan sitting on the hull of his 35-foot sailboat that had lost its mast and capsized some 200 miles east off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina

Jordan had been living on his docked sailboat at the Bucksport Plantation Marina in Conway, South Carolina, until January, when he told his family he was 'going into the open water to sail and do some fishing,' his mother said. The family had not heard from him since, she said.

'We expected him to come back and he did not return,' Davis said. 'We knew something happened. To us it's just a miracle. We're just so thrilled that he was found alive... It's been very difficult not knowing anything and I just feel like all of our prayers have come true. They've been answered.'

'We just talked to Louis Jordan-sounded wonderful,' she wrote on Facebook on Thursday night. 'He said that he felt our prayers. He is in good spirits and hungry!'

In the weeks before their son was found, Frank wrote about his sadness and worry and asked for prayers on his Facebook page.

Two weeks after his disappearance, the father wrote: 'When your son disappears and the weeks wear on, and the weather is cold and the Atlantic is stormy and wild, many horrible thoughts begin to go through your mind, and you begin to unravel.

Vessel: Jordan is pictured on his 35-foot boat. It capsized at sea in January, causing the mast to snap off

At sea: Jordan had been living on his docked sailboat in Conway, South Carolina, before he told his family he was 'going into the open water' to go fishing more than two months ago

'Your life becomes a muddled jumble of prayers and tears and doubts. That is when friends gather around you to lend their support and prayers, too. It is so, so much appreciated.'

A few weeks later, he added: 'Nothing from or about Louis. You don't know whether to mourn or what. When they're lost at sea, only God knows where they are.

'But by God, He does. Louis is in His loving hands, and that is enough to know. Thanks for all the messages of concern, a living, moving tribute to his sweet and gentle soul.'

Then on Thursday, he could finally write: 'Good news - My son Louis Gregory Jordan was picked up by a freighter several hundred miles off Cape Hatteras.'

Jordan had spent months sanding and painting his docked 1950s-era, single-masted sailboat in Conway, where marina manager Jeff Weeks said he saw him nearly every day.

Jordan was the only resident in a section of about 20 boats docked behind a coded security gate, Weeks said.

'You'll probably never meet a nicer guy,' Weeks said. 'He is a quiet gentleman that most of the time keeps to himself. He's polite. I would describe him as a gentle giant:' measuring 6-foot-2 and weighing 230 pounds.

Rescued: Mr Jordan is pulled up into the helicopter after being attached to a device by a rescuer

Rleief: The sailor, who was lost for more than two months, is reeled into the rescue chopper

Salvation: A rescuer is hoisted up after attaching Louis Jordan to the winch

Jordan appeared to be knowledgeable about wild fruits and mushrooms and fished for his meal in inland waterways, Weeks said. But his January trip may have been his first time sailing in the open ocean.

'He might sail up and down the Intercoastal Waterway, but he didn't have the experience he needed to go out into the ocean,' Weeks said.

Records show that Louis Jordan sailed out of the marina in Conway, on January 23, aboard the sailboat Angel, said Marilyn Fajardo, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard's 7th District.

Fajardo said the Coast Guard in Miami was notified by Frank Jordan on January 29 that he hadn't seen or heard from his son in a week. One week later, Davis confirmed their son was still missing.

Fajardo said alerts were issued from New Jersey to Miami to be on the lookout for Jordan and his sailboat. Officials also searched financial data to determine whether Jordan actually had come ashore without being noticed, but found no indication that he had, she said.

Officials searched financial data to determine whether Jordan actually had come ashore without being noticed, but found no indication that he had

Chief Petty Officer Ryan Doss said Jordan's 35-foot sailboat had lost its mast and capsized. The German tanker crew said it found Jordan sitting on the hull

A search was begun on February 8, but Fajardo said the Coast Guard abandoned its efforts after 10 days. Despite reports from other sailors claiming to have seen Jordan's sailboat, none of the sightings were confirmed and the case was suspended.

The Coast Guard said Jordan didn't file a 'float plan,' the nautical equivalent of a flight plan, to determine his route or destination, and Fajardo said there wasn't enough information to narrow down his whereabouts.

Davis said she is looking forward to celebrating her son's return.

'We do plan on having a wonderful Easter celebration with family and I can't wait to get him back,' she said - but neither she nor her son were sure he'd ever head back to see.

'I don't know,' he responded.