Dog lost at sea rescued aboard boat.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Mike Palmer was fishing for sponge. What he caught was a little more lively: a castaway canine adrift on a 29-foot boat. Before his rescue Wednesday, Coco, a 31/2 year-old chow mix, had been drifting aboard the boat for three days. His owners, Julie Parsons and Andrew Block, had been showering on the back of the cabin cruiser when it hit a wave and they tumbled off.

The boat, a Sea Ray Weekender, was in gear and motored away with Coco.

"She was looking back at us like we were crazy,'' Block said.

The couple, both 31, treaded water and swam for 21 hours before Parsons was spotted by a Coast Guard crew on a training mission and a boater found Block a short time later. Coco, meanwhile, was stranded. Humane Society spokeswoman Holly Grote said they fielded hundreds of calls from people with boats and even pilots willing to help look for the dog.

Two planes went out Wednesday and searched in vain.

Then Palmer came upon the boat by chance Wednesday night, 22 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, Northwest of Tampa. Coco was standing on the dive platform on the back of the boat, Palmer said. ''I think it was God-sent,'' Palmer told WFLA in Tampa by phone from his boat, the Southern Cross. ''He was barking. He wasn't sure if I was a good guy or a bad guy.''

Palmer gave Coco about a quart of water, which he eagerly drank. ''The dog is in excellent condition. It looks really good,'' Palmer told WTVT television in Tampa. A Humane Society official went out later Wednesday and brought Coco ashore during the night. ''He's here at the shelter this morning, and he's doing real good,'' Ms. Grote said. A reunion was planned with the owners later in the day.

Palmer's boat wasn't big enough to tow Coco's boat back, so he remained with the Sea Ray craft while arrangements were made for it to be brought to shore.