much. reporter: the 25-year-old was last seen thursday night leaving in his 12-foot john boat. his family reported him missing the next day, triggering a massive search. not the kind of vessel you want to be in in an off-shore environment. the odds were kind of against us in this case despite all of our search effort. reporter: but by saturday morning, they found their needle in a haystack, a coast guard plane spotting gregory sitting barely afloat in his partially submerged boat. first responders rushing him to safety and checking in on him. his father saying he s very dehydrated and sunburnt, but okay. there s a god up there. if you ever thought it wasn t, let your kid go missing off-shore in the ocean for 38 hours. i gave up hope. i should never give up hope. reporter: tonight, charlie s father says he s been discharged from the hospital and recuperating at home. the coast guard says storms in the region are often small enough to wreck smaller boats. they re urging boaters