PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — Two boaters were rescued in the middle of the night Tuesday from their capsized pontoon vessel on Lake Champlain in northeast New York, spending hours stranded in 54 degree water.

“They were very, very lucky to be found,” said Eric Day, director of Clinton County Emergency Services.

Rod and Dodie Giltz, whose home is on the edge of the lake in Peru, New York, heard cries for help through an open window, and reported a boat in distress to authorities at 11 p.m.

Thomas Cross, 50, and Kelsey Juntunen, 30, were discovered shortly afterward, clinging atop the hull of the overturned boat, suffering from hypothermia.  Juntunen was hospitalized in stable condition. Cross was treated at the scene and released.

Authorities said the couple set out across the deep water lake from Burlington, Vermont, Tuesday morning for Plattsburgh, their boat capsizing during the day in rough water and rain.

They were able to get out of the cold water and sit atop the overturned hull, which drifted for several hours. Blowing wind and rain soaked their clothes, authorities said.

Once nightfall occurred, they used a key chain flashlight as a distress signal, catching the eye of Dodie Glitz upon her hearing faint sounds of “help, help” from the lake.

“They said they never saw a boat all day, which I am not surprised about, this time of year,” said emergency services director Day.

The National Weather Service said the lake’s water temperature was 54 degrees at the time, described as normal for late May.

Lake Champlain stretches 163 miles long and 14 miles wide along the borders of Vermont, New York and Canada. It is 400 feet deep in some places.

Details for this story were provided by the Plattsburgh, New York Press-Republican.