A sailor off the coast of Florida is lucky he packed some drinks for his voyage -- 'cause he was rescued by the Coast Guard after staying afloat ... by clinging to a cooler!!!
The man -- who has yet to be identified -- was reportedly onboard a small fishing vessel Wednesday afternoon when he made a panicked mayday call.
Due to dangerous conditions created by incoming Hurricane Milton, the USCG couldn't launch an immediate rescue mission Wednesday, but when Thursday morning rolled around, a Coast Guard chopper headed out for a last-ditch attempt.
Incredibly, the Coast Guard found the sailor alive ... clinging to an open cooler in the ocean about 30 miles offshore. Check out the video -- you can see the man's arm slung over the top of the cooler, keeping him from sinking under the waves.
It's estimated the man survived winds going 75 to 90 mph and waves of up to 25 feet ... conditions that make the word "miracle" seem appropriate here.
Hurricane Milton did a ton of damage to the Sunshine State ... killing at least 16 people and causing between $30 to $60 billion in damages.
While certainly a tragedy, Milton didn't cause as much damage as many experts predicted it would ... very lucky for a region still dealing with the fallout from Hurricane Helene just 2 weeks ago.
At least one man's walking away relatively unscathed ... thanking his lucky stars his cooler kept him out of hot water.