Stuart Cleary never made it across the Tasman Sea … but his homemade kayak did.
Almost 18-months after Mr Cleary last saw his kayak, Tasman Odyssey, on December 7, 2014, it was found washed up on Murawai Beach, on the North Island, about 50 kilometres from his original destination.
Mr Cleary had left Ballina hoping to be the first person to paddle solo and unassisted from Australia to New Zealand.
But a series of equipment failures forced him to abandon the mission almost 24 hours after taking to the water.
The adventurer’s homemade kayak had developed steering problems and he had to be rescued by the NSW water police.
New Zealand man Nathan Marshall contacted him yesterday after finding the vessel during a run on the beach.
It was damaged, covered in barnacles, and missing equipment, but otherwise still in one piece.
Mr Cleary told ABC radio that he was amazed the kayak had made it all the way across the Tasman without major structural damage.
‘Murawai Beach is a surf beach, renowned for having really big surf. Not only has it handled the Tasman Sea for almost 18 months, it’s also come through some pretty massive surf.
‘One thing I’m just absolutely chuffed about is that it’s been able to handle all that without any major structural damage.’
And although he vowed at the time of his rescue that he would not attempt the crossing again, the lure of the Tasman might just change his mind.
‘I didn’t want to make another kayak, but a few months ago I told my wife I had these ideas for a new kayak and I was actually thinking about starting to build another kayak next year,’ he told ABC.
Mr Marshall, who found the kayak ,will hold on to it at his property so Mr Clearly can fly over and inspect it.
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