Scott Donaldson wanted to the first person to kayak across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand but on Friday he had to give up. He left Coff’s Harbour on the east coast of Australia in mid-April, hoping to land in New Plymouth on the west coast of New Zealand in mid-June. This is a journey of 2000 km. However, when he got close to the coast of New Zealand, there were strong easterly winds which pushed him back. He ran out of food and water twice and a friend dropped supplies to him from a helicopter. Waves were 5m high at times so he couldn’t paddle. He just had to sit in his kayak and wait for the weather to change.
However, the weather got worse. A wave destroyed his radar. He rolled 3 times. His kayak was on its side many times so he was unable to change his battery pack. He needed a battery for communication with land. He realised conditions were becoming too dangerous to continue and he would have to give up, with only 83 km to go. A rescue helicopter arrived. He had an emergency locator beacon so it was easy to see the kayak. A rescue swimmer, wearing a harness, dropped from the helicopter. Mr Donaldson got out of the kayak, put on a harness and together the swimmer and kayaker were pulled up into the helicopter.
In 2007, an Australian kayaker hoped to be the first to kayak across the Tasman but he did not arrive. His kayak was found floating in the sea but his body was never found.
Read the news report of Scott Donaldson in the Taranaki Daily News.
Vocabulary
- give up – quit, stop
- run out of – no more left
- supplies – things he needed such as food, water
- destroy – damage very badly so can’t be used
- radar – uses radio waves for direction and to see ships
- locator beacon – a light
- harness – belt around his waist and shoulders