A teenage boy has been rescued by New Zealand police after sailing more than 100km between the South and North Islands in the middle of the night in a metal dingy.
The 18-year-old set off from Kenepuru Sound at the northern tip of the South Island around 10pm on Wednesday night, police said in a statement.
The teenager was travelling in a motorised metal dingy, and sailed solo across Cook Strait to Mana Island off the coast off the North Island, where his boat broke down and he called the harbourmaster for help on Thursday morning, unsure of his exact location.
Police were able to to geo-locate him from his cell phone, and sent a rescue team to his location, about 12km west of Mana Island, where a Westpac helicopter flying above directed police to his exact location.
Police found the boy “in a reasonably good condition, slightly cold but not hypothermic “ and took him to shore for assessment.
Senior sergeant Dave Houston said Cook Strait is a dangerous stretch of water and the teenager made a lucky escape, as usually only much bigger boats with experienced sailors attempt the crossing.
“If it wasn’t for him ringing and us being able to locate him from his phone data it could have been a very different outcome,” Houston said.
“The battery on his cell phone was becoming flat. If we didn’t have the mobile locate we would have had a massive search. The mobile locate, literally saved his life.”
Cook Strait is notoriously rough and dangerous, and passengers travelling on the Interislander ferry frequently experience severe sea sickness, or have their passage cancelled due to inclement conditions.
Police said the conditions overnight were “rough” for a small dingy and while the man wore a life jacket, he had not checked the weather conditions and was not an experienced seaman.
