JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A man and his young son were plucked from the Fort George River on Tuesday afternoon after their boat flipped.

Greg Ferrell and his son, Greg Jr., were taking their new boat for a spin. Ferrell said they were going about 70-80 mph when the boat flipped and landed on top of them.

"I latched onto his life jacket when I saw him," Ferrell said. "It's a split second reaction. You go from riding just fine and dandy and smiling to the sky, and then it's too late."

The pair stayed under the boat for several minutes until Ferrell said he felt it was safe to come out.

"I just happened all so quick. We got trapped under the boat and I could still hear the motor running, so I waited for the motor to quit running before we came out from underneath the boat. Then, we just floated down the middle of the river for a little while," Ferrell said.

He said while he and his son were in the water they didn't know when help would come.

"Nobody could hear us. We were down the river about a mile -- just floating down the river. I was trying to swim with the boat and him to the sandbar. It took us about an hour and a half," Ferrell said.

"I heard them fly by and go around the corner. I looked up and the boat was upside down. I heard a couple of people freaking out, and I started calling 911," said Ryan Mosley, who was fishing at the time.

Although it was firefighters who pulled Ferrell and his son off a sandbar and towed their boat to shore, Ferrell said it was their life jackets that saved their lives.

"We always wear life jackets … no matter what the boat does, we still float," Ferrell said.

Neither he nor his son was injured.