Here's Dramatic Video Of A Coast Guard Helicopter Rescuing Passengers Of The Sunken HMS Bounty

For some reason, some smart people decided to sail a replica of an 18th century ship directly into Hurricane Sandy. It went exactly as you'd picture, with the HMS ., with 16 people aboard.

The ship was sailing from Connecticut to St. Petersburg, Fla., when it started to founder late last night. Fourteen of the 16 on board were able to get to life rafts; two crew members, including the captain, are still missing. The captain's wife said he was aware of the storm, but hoped to bypass the worst of it.

"He was just trying to avoid it, skirt it. Skirt through it, skirt around it," Claudia McCann said earlier on Monday.

The Coast Guard, stationed at Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., arrived with a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter at around 6:30 this morning. They lowered swimmers to help the castaways into rescue baskets, which were then hoisted back into the helicopter. It was no easy task, as this video makes clear.

"With 40 mile-per-hour winds, 18-foot seas, waves and swells, and a mile of visibility, those are absolutely challenging circumstances to conduct this kind of hoist operation," said Lt. Mike Patterson, a Coast Guard spokesman. "That's a testimony to what our folks do."

Coast guard aircraft continue to scour the area for the two missing crew members.