NEW YORK (Reuters) - Academy Award-winning actor Russell Crowe and a friend were picked up by the U.S. Coast Guard over the weekend after getting lost while kayaking off Long Island, New York, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Monday.

Crowe and his unidentified friend flagged down a Coast Guard patrol after beaching their kayaks in Huntington Bay around 10 p.m. on Saturday (0200 GMT on Sunday), the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The pair had set off from Cold Spring Harbor, several miles away, but got lost and made for the beach as night fell and conditions worsened, according to the statement.

Crowe thanked "the boys from the US Coast Guard for guiding the way" in a message on Twitter posted on Sunday.

Early on Monday, he also tweeted: "not lost, we knew where exactly where we were, paddling around from csh (Cold Spring Harbor) into wind, we ran out of day. Grand adventure eh."

Neither the New Zealand-born Crowe, 48, nor his companion were injured, the Coast Guard said.

"It is common for the Coast Guard to assist boaters like this, but it was very cool to help Russell Crowe and his friend," said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Robert Swieciki, the boat coxswain involved in the incident. "Crowe and his friend were very grateful to get a lift."

Crowe, who won an Oscar in 2001 for his starring role in "Gladiator," has a reputation for being bad-tempered and was arrested in 2005 for throwing a telephone at a New York hotel employee.

In 2010, he stormed out of a BBC radio interview over remarks made about the accent he used playing the title role in the movie "Robin Hood."

Crowe also was nominated for an Oscar in 2000 for his leading role in "The Insider" and in 2002 for his leading role in "A Beautiful Mind."

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