SAN ANTONIO -- Tressel Hawkins, James Phillips and Curt Hall work together and fish together.

This summer, they almost died together.

Nearly 200 miles from shore in the Gulf of Mexico, their catamaran began taking on water in the middle of the night. The ship eventually capsized. Hanging onto the boat was the key to survival for the men and salvaging something to eat was a bonus.

"We had chips, gum, crackers," Hawkins said.

And they also had plenty to drink.

"We made it six days on beer," Phillips said. "That's the truth."

"It kept you full. Made you feel full," Hall added.

As the days went by, the ocean sun and a lack of food caused the men to suffer from hallucinations.

"I thought I was going to the store to get some Copenhagen at night and I walked off the end of the boat," Phillips said.

The men fired flares at passing boats one day and even saw a possible search plane fly overhead but they never gave up hope.

"We just drank more beer that day," Phillips said.

Their faith was rewarded when a Houston man who was deep-sea fishing with friends came upon them, picked them up and gave them their first real meal in over a week.

"That was a miracle, that's all I can say. It was just a miracle. It was great," Hawkins said.

After that meal, the eating didn't stop for days.

"I didn't stop eating for the first three weeks," Hawkins said. "I mean breakfast, lunch, dinner. Everything in-between and everything else."

The men still keep in touch with their rescuer but aside from media interviews, don't talk much about the ordeal.

"(I) stay busy enough (that) you really don't have time to think about it," Hall said.

A few weeks after they were found, Hall and Phillips went back to the Gulf to look for their boat. The men didn't have a problem heading that far offshore again until nightfall.

"Sun went down, I got sick. Nerves got me," Phillips said.

"I had my clock set every hour on the hour to wake up," Hall said.

They didn't find the boat but the men said they found something more important -- a better appreciation of life.

"(I) made a lot of promises to God out there," Phillips said. "(And I'm) trying to keep them."