Kayaker's plans end on sandbar

22.02.2007

An experienced sea kayaker beached his plans to paddle from Gisborne to Wellington after he capsized on the Wairoa River while pulling in for a night's rest yesterday.

Gisborne man Zane Gibson, 50, was attempting to kayak solo from Gisborne to Wellington.

He had started out from Mahia Beach yesterday morning, and was paddling to shore on the Wairoa River at 3pm when he misjudged a sandbar in the rivermouth.

"From the seaward side, the sandbar bar looked okay, so he started approaching," Senior Sergeant Tony Bates, of Wairoa Police, said.

"But once he got in close he realised it was quite difficult."

Caught between a narrow sandbar and "extreme" currents, the kayaker struggled to keep his boat upright.

It overturned several times before Mr Gibson, realising the danger in trying to paddle to shore, abandoned the kayak and swam to safety on the narrow sandbar. Two motorcyclists saw Mr Gibson and called police.

Police drove out to investigate and saw he could not be safely reached by boat.

Forty minutes later, a rescue helicopter winched him to safety.

Mr Bates said Mr Gibson was "very relieved" to be found and waited at the police station until family picked him up.

With his kayak and belongings swept out to sea, he was unlikely to complete the journey any time soon. If you find a Prion-make, grey-coloured kayak 5.3m long, or a yellow, blue or black bag washed up on a beach.

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