In a dramatic ocean rescue by the US Coast Guard, an Australian father and his son have been winched to safety in blizzard conditions after their boat ran into trouble off the east coast of America.

Reg McGlashan, 65, and son Jason, 38, were attempting the 16,000km journey to their home town of Port Macquarie on the NSW mid north coast in their 13 metre boat "Sedona", which Jason had purchased from Ebay for $US10,000 in January.

Speaking from Cape Cod on Tuesday, Reg McGlashan said they had been forced to call for help about 240km south of Nantucket, Massachusetts, when their boat lost power and a snowstorm ripped the sails to shreds.

"We were coming down the coast and had a bit of an equipment failure on board," he told the Seven Network.