0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some strong language.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Kayak One. All stations. All stations.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07A call for help was heard.
0:01:07 > 0:01:10No other information was received.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Well, if anyone but Andrew had come to me with that idea,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46I would have just thought it's not a possibility,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51but when Andrew McAuley tells you that's what he wants to do, you take him a little bit more seriously.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55I've been in those waters many, many times, so I know the conditions.
0:01:55 > 0:02:02And I will tell him, look, you may have 10-metre waves, how do you think you're going to feel about it?
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Visualise what it's like to have a wall of water coming towards you.
0:02:07 > 0:02:12This is what you're going to experience. Do you want to do it?
0:02:12 > 0:02:14And he kept saying yes.
0:02:15 > 0:02:20My father was in the Navy and I told him that he was going to try and paddle a kayak to New Zealand
0:02:20 > 0:02:24and his face just went ashen and I said, "What's going on, Dad?"
0:02:24 > 0:02:31And he said, "I was there in a naval boat once, and this boat's antenna is 30 metres above the water level,
0:02:31 > 0:02:35"and when the two destroyers were in the troughs of the waves,
0:02:35 > 0:02:40"we couldn't see the antenna of the other boat."
0:02:40 > 0:02:43So the size of swells that you get out there is enormous.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47It's cold water. It's big swells.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49It's wild winds.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53It's a very intimidating piece of the world to be out there on your own.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58Yeah. I am scared.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00I am scared about this trip.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02I feel fear.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06I don't necessarily fear being afraid
0:03:06 > 0:03:09because, being afraid,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12you face your demons, you know.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17You're taken places in your head that you just can't be taken in normal everyday life.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29That day, back in December 2006,
0:03:29 > 0:03:36was such an incredibly emotional day for both of us.
0:03:36 > 0:03:41Neither of us have ever experienced such intensity and emotion before.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57I never would have asked him to not go, I couldn't have done that to him.
0:03:57 > 0:04:03I knew the risks. I knew it was an enormously challenging undertaking...
0:04:03 > 0:04:10but I had no other choice than to just believe in him
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and believe that nothing could go wrong.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16OK. Let's do it.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20There'd been so much preparation and everything was so busy
0:04:20 > 0:04:26and we hadn't spent that much time together in the final stages because there was just too much going on.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28And finally, it was here. He was leaving.
0:04:28 > 0:04:34- Bye, Dad!- Bye bye, my beautiful little boy.- Bye, Daddy. Bye, Dad. - Daddy's gonna come and hug you...
0:04:34 > 0:04:37And we just didn't want to part.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44SHE SOBS
0:04:44 > 0:04:49It was just like our hearts were being wrenched out of each other's chests.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54It was as if we weren't going to see one another again.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58And I so much then didn't want him to go. But...you know...
0:04:58 > 0:05:02we'd been through too much in the preparation.
0:05:04 > 0:05:10I think it was such a difficult thing for him to leave the beach that day and for me to watch him.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13And when he did paddle away,
0:05:13 > 0:05:17I sat there holding Finlay tight and we both yelled out, "Bye, Daddy,"
0:05:17 > 0:05:20and waved to him, "See you in New Zealand, Daddy."
0:05:20 > 0:05:22See you in New Zealand.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24See you in New Zealand.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42Bye, Daddy.
0:05:46 > 0:05:48Bye, Daddy.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52HE SOBS
0:06:18 > 0:06:20Bye, Daddy.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32I rushed up along this path that was following the coast up this hill.
0:06:32 > 0:06:36I sprinted up there, trying to look for him,
0:06:36 > 0:06:42trying to get one last glimpse at him and wave and I was yelling out to him but he couldn't hear me.
0:06:42 > 0:06:46And I was just in hysterics because I just didn't want him to go.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56- I love you... - BREAKS DOWN SOBBING
0:07:24 > 0:07:30Andrew was an adventurer, from the moment I met him, that's what I knew him as - an adventurer.
0:07:34 > 0:07:39I take the credit, or the blame I should say, for introducing Andrew to kayaking.
0:07:39 > 0:07:45He soon caught up and way overtook me though because his fear factor is zilch
0:07:45 > 0:07:48and he just, as he does with everything else,
0:07:48 > 0:07:56just pushed it beyond the recreational and enjoyable level, onto the really totally out there
0:07:56 > 0:07:59and on the edge of your seat excitement level.
0:08:03 > 0:08:07And he brought that mountaineering mindset into sea kayaking.
0:08:07 > 0:08:12He did the first non-stop crossing of Bass Strait, 35 hours crossing.
0:08:12 > 0:08:18He crossed the Gulf of Carpentaria and all these trips were a build-up to this Tasman trip.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20So how do you feel, Andrew?
0:08:20 > 0:08:23Cold! That's cold!
0:08:23 > 0:08:28He'd done his apprenticeship, he'd done his training
0:08:28 > 0:08:32and everything was leading towards this trip.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36I thought if anyone could do it, he was the one that could do it.
0:09:34 > 0:09:41Extreme adventurers probably do have a slightly different emotional makeup to your average family man.
0:09:41 > 0:09:46You don't go and put yourself in the middle of the Tasman without certain psychological characteristics.
0:09:46 > 0:09:52There are some adventurers that are extremely emotionally hardened and to feel alive,
0:09:52 > 0:09:59to get that high, if you like, requires them to put themselves into a high level of risk
0:09:59 > 0:10:03than someone with a greater emotional sensitivity.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08For many people, to experience that intense feeling of being alive,
0:10:08 > 0:10:12you need to touch that potential to die
0:10:12 > 0:10:19and, in realising that you might lose your life, some people get a sense of how special life is.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21So I think this passion that he had for adventure
0:10:21 > 0:10:27was very much in a position of tension and conflict with this love that he had for his family.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14He knew he could not achieve his goal.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17He was suffering from hypothermia the first night out.
0:11:17 > 0:11:20It was obviously a wise decision. He wouldn't have made it.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24He turned around before he hit the point of no return.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26It was, basically, just the cold.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30Hello, gorgeous. It's me.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36- Good. How are you?- 'Oh, Andrew's so funny and so predictable.'
0:11:38 > 0:11:43He rang me... sounding extremely shattered.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47Hadn't slept much and I was hallucinating by the time I got here.
0:11:48 > 0:11:50Yeah. It was pretty wild.
0:11:50 > 0:11:57And I burst into tears because it was a mixture of just absolute relief
0:11:57 > 0:12:02but a really strong disappointment for Andrew, too.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06And I'm proud of you for holding your chin up so well, gorgeous, cos it's not easy.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10No, it's not easy.
0:12:10 > 0:12:17But then he said, "Well, we'll talk about it when I get home as to whether I make another attempt,"
0:12:17 > 0:12:22and when he said that, I knew without a doubt that there would be another attempt.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Anyway, beautiful, you don't have to worry any more. I'm on solid land,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28I'm feeling the sand between my toes.
0:12:28 > 0:12:36'He'd already made up his mind before he reached shore that the second attempt wouldn't be too far away.'
0:12:46 > 0:12:49I think it was the first time that that ever really hit me -
0:12:49 > 0:12:52the possibility that I might never see my family again.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58It's difficult giving advice to people, so I said,
0:12:59 > 0:13:02"If you die, and there's a significant chance you could die,
0:13:02 > 0:13:08"you're going to leave your son without a father and that's a very significant omission in his life."
0:13:08 > 0:13:12And he thanked me for bringing that up.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15And I said I didn't feel, as a friend,
0:13:15 > 0:13:22that I would want him to go on this trip without at least giving an outside perspective.
0:13:22 > 0:13:28I have thought about not returning to do the trip. I guess that the trip is very important to me
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it could be done safely.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39No-one's ever paddled a kayak from Australia to New Zealand before.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44And no-one in the world's ever done anything quite like this on an ocean as rough as this before.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46That's going to be breaking new ground for kayaking.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52If you're going to do it, if you're going to go to all that effort,
0:13:52 > 0:13:54you'd want to be first.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Two more kayakers hope to become the first to make the crossing.
0:14:03 > 0:14:10James Castrission and Justin Jones have detailed plans to paddle from Sydney to New Zealand...
0:14:10 > 0:14:15There are another couple of young guys from Sydney who plan to...
0:14:15 > 0:14:17they're planning to paddle from Sydney to Auckland.
0:14:17 > 0:14:22They're using something that I don't really regard as a traditional kayak.
0:14:22 > 0:14:27It's a very expensive non-production boat, costing in excess of 80,000.
0:14:27 > 0:14:34It will have a big sleeping cabin at the back and, the way I see it, a true kayak doesn't have a cabin.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39When did you both establish that you were going around the same time?
0:14:39 > 0:14:45Well, I suppose we really only found out that Andrew was going to go about a month ago.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49Yeah. So that was a bit of a shock.
0:14:49 > 0:14:56Having two young upstarts, wanting to take away his crown, was a very threatening concept.
0:14:56 > 0:15:00And though they were doing it in very different ways,
0:15:00 > 0:15:07the iconic notion of being the first to have paddled the Tasman was clearly important to Andy.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10There's good vibes between you. There's no competition.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13You're not feeling any?
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Not thinking about the competition.
0:15:16 > 0:15:18It seems like there's good camaraderie here.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23- Or is there a bit of...? - What do you think, Andrew?
0:15:23 > 0:15:28Well, like I said to you before, I think it's great to see the spirit of adventure still alive
0:15:28 > 0:15:35and it's good to see people getting out there. I'd rather think there's an atmosphere of co-operation.
0:15:35 > 0:15:40There might be some friendly rivalry but I don't think a place like the Tasman's a place for competitions.
0:15:40 > 0:15:45A lot of us told him just forget about these other two because it's a separate trip.
0:15:45 > 0:15:52They're at more northern latitudes, a less intimidating body of water in a double kayak.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55But it was definitely confronting for him,
0:15:55 > 0:16:00the notion that these two guys could beat him across to New Zealand.
0:16:00 > 0:16:06And unfortunately, that element of competition did come to have
0:16:06 > 0:16:10an adverse effect on Andy's mentality and preparation for the trip.
0:16:21 > 0:16:27The day he arrived in Tasmania, he got a call on his mobile phone from the Tasmanian Water Police.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31Said they'd like to meet him and have a talk before he took off.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34And looking back, it was nearly like an ambush.
0:16:34 > 0:16:42How will you cope with making the right decisions, in times of extreme stress, in treacherous seas?
0:16:42 > 0:16:48It would appear the police were tipped off by someone that would prefer Andrew didn't make the trip.
0:16:48 > 0:16:49I mean, we have our ideas.
0:16:49 > 0:16:56They'd been advised that Andrew was about to go and that he didn't have all the right safety gear
0:16:56 > 0:16:58and they probably shouldn't let him go.
0:16:58 > 0:17:04We've just been meeting with the search and rescue guys and they have the potential to stop the trip,
0:17:04 > 0:17:07so we're just waiting here very nervously to see what happens.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09Yeah. He outlined his background.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15I got no qualms about that, but the Tasman Sea is a big area.
0:17:15 > 0:17:21One of them said the boat may be capable, we're not sure if this trip is humanly possible.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26But, you know, they were concerned for his safety, obviously.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29This is a detention notice.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33And that detention notice essentially impounds the kayak
0:17:33 > 0:17:37and it means that I'm unable to continue with the trip.
0:17:37 > 0:17:44What they insisted that he do before he left was a risk assessment and a safety operation plan.
0:17:46 > 0:17:51Andrew listed all the possible scenarios what could go wrong and the chances of it.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55You know, the whole thing was a fairly high risk operation right from day one.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58I mean, as they said, they can't really stop him going,
0:17:58 > 0:18:01but they could make it hard for him.
0:18:01 > 0:18:06At that point, they lifted the detention order and said
0:18:06 > 0:18:09they would still prefer he didn't go, but good luck.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14We're clear to go, so that's great. Whoo!
0:18:24 > 0:18:27The second departure was a bit different.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32There was nearly no-one there. Vicky and Finlay weren't there.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37I think that made it a lot easier for Andrew, emotionally.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Didn't have the crowd.
0:18:39 > 0:18:43Sort of slipped away in the dark, so to speak.
0:18:43 > 0:18:50But I still remember the guys that gave him a hand to put the boat in the water saying, you know,
0:18:50 > 0:18:55"This is really hard core stuff." And when he paddled off,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58you knew you were witnessing a moment in history.
0:18:58 > 0:19:03You knew no matter what happened, he was going to be in the news.
0:20:37 > 0:20:42It was fairly similar to your normal production boat, some modifications.
0:20:42 > 0:20:49He needed to sleep in it. It needed to be a space capsule for the ocean.
0:20:49 > 0:20:56So we built the boat to handle more than he could handle.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59Tuck down inside like this.
0:21:00 > 0:21:02Move my body forward.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Well, it's very tight.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08I'm down here. I can only fit one arm in, it's so tight
0:21:08 > 0:21:14and the other arm tucks across me like this, in Egyptian mummy style.
0:21:14 > 0:21:15So you're really locked in.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19Head on the seat, for comfort and then I
0:21:19 > 0:21:24move the hood over the top and say goodnighty night.
0:21:24 > 0:21:28Gave him the ability to sleep in the boat in any weather conditions.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31If the boat were to tip upside down, all that air and buoyancy underneath
0:21:31 > 0:21:36would tip the boat back upright without really any input from him.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38It looks crazy.
0:21:41 > 0:21:48There was no way you could paddle across the Tasman without the cover he had on the back.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59So I decided to get involved in helping him with the preparation,
0:22:59 > 0:23:03so he would at least know what would happen with the weather systems.
0:23:03 > 0:23:10So I trained him to understand the nature of the high pressure system, of the low pressure system,
0:23:10 > 0:23:14to understand the clouds, which is what navigators have always done.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17The key is how much can you take?
0:23:17 > 0:23:20That's it. How comfortable are you?
0:23:20 > 0:23:21How good are you?
0:23:21 > 0:23:26And what can you handle when things get really bad? That's the key to it.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59A kayak is small and can be buffeted around
0:23:59 > 0:24:04but its strength is, if it goes over, you can roll it back up.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08He'd lost one of those fundamental strengths in kayaking.
0:24:17 > 0:24:22If he went over, his casper would fill up with water,
0:24:22 > 0:24:28he wouldn't be able to roll it, so he would push out and come up to the surface.
0:24:28 > 0:24:30And then you have to roll the boat over,
0:24:30 > 0:24:33so when the boat's full of water, it's very unstable.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It's actually really hard to keep it the right way up.
0:24:37 > 0:24:41Not only that, you've got to pull yourself up into the boat
0:24:41 > 0:24:43and then get the water out.
0:24:43 > 0:24:49Now, you don't go over in flat water, you only go over when the water's rough.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52So doing that when you've got two or three metre
0:24:52 > 0:24:56swells bashing over your boat would be difficult, to say the least.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59And he realised that it was a very dangerous manoeuvre,
0:24:59 > 0:25:03that every time he came out of his boat, he was at risk of dying.
0:25:03 > 0:25:07And not unreasonably, he became a little bit scared of that.
0:25:45 > 0:25:50The safety authorities, AMSA, their concern with Andrew was he was out of helicopter range.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55He had 200 kilometres each end from Australia to New Zealand where he could be rescued by helicopter.
0:25:55 > 0:26:01So that left 1,200 kilometres in the middle, which basically means he'd have to be rescued by ship
0:26:01 > 0:26:06and there's very little shipping traffic in that area so it could be days before he got rescued.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11In 15 degree water, you only last hours so, if you ran into trouble,
0:26:11 > 0:26:16that would be the end of the road, pretty much.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23Oh, what a morning.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Andrew's oblivious to all this drama, he's just paddling away.
0:26:31 > 0:26:38Basically, we told them that he's 400 kilometres out now, we're not going to ask him to return to shore.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41He won't anyway. In fact, by Paul's calculations,
0:26:41 > 0:26:48it'll be quicker for him just to continue and make landfall at Milford as planned,
0:26:48 > 0:26:52so I've been on the phone with them all morning. It's quite stressful.
0:26:52 > 0:26:59But hopefully, he will just continue getting the messages at 5.30, so come on, Andy, go, go.
0:26:59 > 0:27:03Every day, around 5.30, I will do a forecast.
0:27:03 > 0:27:08I would transmit some information as to what was going to happen the following day.
0:27:14 > 0:27:19Within 15 minutes, he would have to answer me and describe local condition.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24And that would confirm the forecast.
0:27:28 > 0:27:33He's been running now for about five to six days,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35in very good, very quiet conditions
0:27:35 > 0:27:41and making an average of about 31 to 33 miles a day.
0:27:41 > 0:27:44That's very good.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Now, in the Southern Ocean, things like this never, never last.
0:27:49 > 0:27:56It's a very wild ocean and, even at this time of the year, we get some very serious weather patterns.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25Yeah. Don't think I'll be doing this one again in a hurry!
0:29:25 > 0:29:31Think I will have had enough of paddling for a little while after this trip. Anyway, back into it.
0:30:21 > 0:30:27And he knew that there was absolutely no way he could go across without having a major storm.
0:30:29 > 0:30:30There was no doubt about this.
0:30:30 > 0:30:35The key was to decide whether or not he could deal with it.
0:30:42 > 0:30:47The sea's building up quite a lot and it's pretty rough.
0:30:47 > 0:30:54And while I was packing the gear up today, it made me realise just how close to the edge I really am.
0:30:54 > 0:31:02Most people, when you get to a certain stage of tiredness, or cold, people just give up.
0:31:02 > 0:31:05They just get in cold places and they just say...
0:31:05 > 0:31:09"I'm just going to die." And they stop. They give up.
0:31:09 > 0:31:14I'm scared because this trip makes me realise that I might not get back
0:31:14 > 0:31:18and I've never been able to say that about a trip before
0:31:18 > 0:31:22but on this one I can say it, because it's just such a hard trip.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25It really is such a hard trip.
0:31:25 > 0:31:32And I'm never, ever, ever doing anything as hard and as dangerous as this...
0:31:32 > 0:31:38What keeps you alive in those situations is actually a will to live,
0:31:38 > 0:31:44a will that can bear the suffering that you're experiencing.
0:31:44 > 0:31:49I've got to keep it together. I don't know how I'm going to do that, but I've got to keep it together
0:31:49 > 0:31:54and really focus and make sure that I pull this off successfully
0:31:54 > 0:31:59because I've got too many things to go back to - a beautiful wife and a beautiful son...
0:31:59 > 0:32:03Little Finlay, he's just the most gorgeous kid in the world. I really love him...
0:32:03 > 0:32:06I can't wait to see them again.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10I've got weddings to go to. I've got heaps of friends.
0:32:10 > 0:32:15I have a lot of people who want me back. I've got a great family.
0:32:18 > 0:32:25My sister, brother, mum and dad. Everyone. I've just...got to get back.
0:32:25 > 0:32:31I never will do anything as hard as this again in the future.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32That's a promise.
0:32:38 > 0:32:42I picked up that storm six days in advance, in fact.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46Did not tell him anything because I wanted to verify it.
0:32:46 > 0:32:51Five days before the storm, I notified him of it.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53I took this one very seriously. It was a bad one.
0:33:12 > 0:33:17It was critical for him to know long in advance so that, mentally,
0:33:17 > 0:33:21he would be prepared, knowing that something really bad was coming.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42And anything between 40 to 60 knots of wind,
0:33:42 > 0:33:46you can also get waves that can exceed, you know, 12 metres.
0:33:46 > 0:33:52That will compare to the 1998 Sydney-Hobart, similar conditions, probably bigger seas.
0:33:54 > 0:33:59'The tragic toll from the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race stands at 6 dead.'
0:33:59 > 0:34:02We got knocked flat by a huge wave.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06Wouldn't like to guess how big it was. It rolled the boat upside down.
0:34:06 > 0:34:10There were two guys washed overboard that were on deck at the time.
0:34:12 > 0:34:16The one Andrew went through would've been very similar to that storm.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20So he was in that for 48 hours.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22It was a horror.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Ten metre swells.
0:34:24 > 0:34:2850 knot winds gusting up to 80 knots.
0:34:38 > 0:34:40No news yet.
0:34:40 > 0:34:46It's about 11 o'clock now. We should have had a position report at 5.30.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48Between 5.30 and 6 o'clock.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52And we are running about, um, six hours late.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54Has he ever been this late before?
0:34:54 > 0:34:55No. Never.
0:35:01 > 0:35:06It's probably hard for any of us in the eventual to really think about
0:35:06 > 0:35:10what it would be like living through that for 24, 48 hours.
0:35:10 > 0:35:16You have these huge waves that are coming through and the wind is cutting off the tops of the waves
0:35:16 > 0:35:20so that all the tops of the waves are breaking.
0:35:20 > 0:35:26So, as he's lying there, you go up the wave, you possibly get spun at the top of the wave,
0:35:26 > 0:35:34you come off the wave and go bang at the bottom, so each swell, he's coming up and then bang! Bang!
0:35:35 > 0:35:41Rolling down the face of waves at two o'clock in the morning with no windows and 600km from land,
0:35:41 > 0:35:47that would have been an horrendous position to be in. I don't think we could even imagine how bad.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56When Andrew's message didn't come through, I turned my computer off
0:35:56 > 0:36:01and walked away and said to my wife and family, "Looks like it's all over."
0:36:01 > 0:36:05I cannot tell you the anxiety that I felt...
0:36:05 > 0:36:09I didn't even want to ring Jonathan because I didn't want to know.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22There we go. We got the message.
0:36:25 > 0:36:29There we go. Time, 21.33.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34"All is fine.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36"Wind dropped to 25 knots.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38"South west. Sky cumulus.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41"Position will send in in morning.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44"Terrifying start.
0:36:44 > 0:36:45"Terrifying start.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48"Then settled a bit.
0:36:48 > 0:36:51"Broke the pivot arm on canopy.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53"All OK. Terrifying start."
0:36:53 > 0:36:59That's what...he would have had experience, because the seas would have been absolutely horrendous.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01So all is well.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10I feel like I'm in a prison cell.
0:37:12 > 0:37:17And thankfully, the capsule worked...as advertised
0:37:17 > 0:37:22and the boat didn't stay upside down, which was a relief.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25So right now, I'm...
0:37:27 > 0:37:30It's still pretty windy, so...I'm gonna...
0:37:30 > 0:37:36It sounds like...it feels like it's going to be OK for paddling, though.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41I've just got to be super super careful and, um...
0:37:41 > 0:37:43I'm going to have some breakfast before...
0:37:43 > 0:37:45I venture out into the big bad world.
0:37:47 > 0:37:53And, um, when I do...venture out into the big bad world,
0:37:53 > 0:37:56I've just got to be really careful.
0:37:56 > 0:38:02The last thing I want is another capsize. I really don't want to capsize again.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Another wave. Um...
0:38:07 > 0:38:08Yeah, so...
0:38:08 > 0:38:11it's pretty dangerous out there, really.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17I just want to paddle conservatively and stay upright,
0:38:17 > 0:38:23but I've got to make progress as well. I'm not going to make any progress...if I sit in here all day.
0:38:25 > 0:38:29He kept his nerves and that's one of the thing that always amazed me with Andrew.
0:38:29 > 0:38:35He had control of situation that was way beyond everything I have ever seen before.
0:38:35 > 0:38:41The sort of storms that he went through were the sort of storm that he thought he would probably die in,
0:38:41 > 0:38:48in terms of our discussion leading up to the trip. But he survived that storm and I don't know how.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Again, it's that will to survive thing.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56At three weeks into that trip where he's already not at his best,
0:38:56 > 0:38:59how you would get through that sort of experience is amazing.
0:38:59 > 0:39:05Andrew got through it and started paddling a day or two later
0:39:05 > 0:39:09and sustained a little bit of damage to one of the pivot arms on the canopy on the boat.
0:39:09 > 0:39:16Well, by that stage, yes, he'd survived that huge storm and then he was getting so close.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19What could go wrong? What could go wrong now?
0:39:19 > 0:39:20You know, he's home and hosed.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24He's done it.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52I'm feeling a little bit dejected at the moment.
0:40:52 > 0:40:57I'm not sure whether I can pull it off. It's just so hard.
0:40:57 > 0:41:03Not so much the paddling each day but living in this fucking little cockpit thing.
0:41:04 > 0:41:09Each night, when you can't move, you can't do anything,
0:41:09 > 0:41:16can't even put cream on my arse to get rid of these pressure sores and salt sores because it's so tight.
0:41:16 > 0:41:23And I'm just finding it very, very difficult. Much more so than I imagined I would.
0:41:23 > 0:41:29I really feel that I'm right at my limit and this is about as much as I can handle.
0:41:29 > 0:41:37So I've just got to really focus on hanging in there and...I've just got to make sure I don't lose it.
0:41:51 > 0:41:55You can call it the Tasman Sea but it's really the Southern Ocean.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58It's below 40 degrees. It's very rough out there. It's so exposed.
0:41:58 > 0:42:03Such a long way. He's all on his own. It's just very, very full on.
0:42:05 > 0:42:10- FINLAY:- That's my daddy! That's my daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!
0:42:12 > 0:42:18Just left Queenstown after a very busy morning with the media.
0:42:18 > 0:42:26We're just heading out now while we wait for Andrew, he's still a couple of hundred kilometres offshore.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30He's in a direct line, at least, for Milford, so that's good news.
0:42:30 > 0:42:34At least we know he'll definitely make it into Milford.
0:42:44 > 0:42:51Someone, they've had a garbled message from someone called Kayak One in the fjord region.
0:42:53 > 0:42:56And he said they couldn't understand... Yeah.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58'The Friday night...
0:42:58 > 0:43:02'there was a great sense of anticipation in the air
0:43:02 > 0:43:06'because Andrew's last message indicated he'd see us on Sunday.'
0:43:06 > 0:43:11And we were out at a noisy restaurant when a couple of phones went off
0:43:11 > 0:43:18and then Paul said to me the rescue co-ordination centre were on the line cos they'd received a transmission.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22He sort of asked me, he said what call sign would Andrew use?
0:43:22 > 0:43:29- He said I won't tell you, that way I'm not putting ideas in your head. - Oh, no, that's definitely him.
0:43:29 > 0:43:33He said Kayak One... This guy's in Wellington.
0:43:33 > 0:43:38He said Kayak One, but they couldn't understand it.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42They said it didn't sound like a distress signal.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47They go to channel six to make contact then change channels.
0:43:47 > 0:43:55We were really excited because we thought he'd made good progress and was now within radio contact.
0:44:09 > 0:44:15'We went back to the motel and then Paul had said that the RCC would ring a little later on.'
0:44:15 > 0:44:21And he played me a very short snippet of the tape so I could identify Andrew's voice.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25MESSAGE IS REPEATED
0:44:38 > 0:44:42We got four words, you know - Kayak One, do you copy? Over.
0:44:42 > 0:44:46Was a little bit hard to even confirm it was Andrew,
0:44:46 > 0:44:50but we were not alarmed from what we'd heard.
0:44:50 > 0:44:57So, I think it's just that he's trying to alert us that he's closer than he'd anticipated
0:44:57 > 0:45:02because we've got all this media waiting and we've got to notify them.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07'Yeah. Um, there are some other words in there.
0:45:07 > 0:45:11'There's more to the transmission than that.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14- 'We're having great difficulty in deciphering it.'- Right.
0:45:14 > 0:45:20'And that's part of the reason that we're taking this precaution
0:45:20 > 0:45:24'and if we can get the helicopter out, we'll do it tonight
0:45:24 > 0:45:29'because in the worst circumstance, if Andrew is in need of assistance,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32'we don't want to leave him out there overnight.'
0:45:38 > 0:45:44The reason they didn't play the whole message was because they did not want to alarm us unnecessarily.
0:45:44 > 0:45:45Well, they didn't.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49I mean, I pretty well went to bed like normal, you know.
0:45:49 > 0:45:53Some guy's called on the radio and could have been Andrew.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59How difficult was it last night out there?
0:45:59 > 0:46:03It was a brilliant night, last night. No cloud cover at all.
0:46:03 > 0:46:08A million stars and half a moon, so a good chance of seeing him.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12Well, we're sort of working on where RCC think he MAY be.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15That's not to say that he's not a few miles to the north.
0:46:19 > 0:46:23- Can't wait to see Dad. - Neither can I.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26Neither can I.
0:46:26 > 0:46:31The next morning, Vicky received a call
0:46:31 > 0:46:37saying that they'd managed to extract a few words from the transmission but them being...
0:46:37 > 0:46:40my kayak's sinking and help.
0:46:40 > 0:46:44And I must say I'm feeling very nervous.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47I really don't think it's him,
0:46:47 > 0:46:51but the whole situation is not a pleasant one.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55John from the RCC said, "We have many hoax calls
0:46:55 > 0:46:59"so we have to investigate would this be Andrew or a hoax call?"
0:46:59 > 0:47:03The next day we still hadn't heard the rest of the recording.
0:47:03 > 0:47:11So in my mind there was every possibility that it was a hoax call then.
0:47:11 > 0:47:17I'm just hoping that Andrew's oblivious to all this, that he's just merrily paddling away out there,
0:47:17 > 0:47:21doing what he's doing and we will still expect to see him on...
0:47:23 > 0:47:26..Sunday morning, as was planned.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49I hope we get a glimpse of him. I really do.
0:47:49 > 0:47:54It'd make me feel a lot better if we do. Keep our fingers crossed.
0:48:17 > 0:48:24Well, you know, it was a little bit disappointing not seeing him out there but it's an awful big ocean...
0:48:24 > 0:48:27and we only covered a very small area.
0:48:27 > 0:48:32So it's certainly understandable that we didn't spot him out there.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36It's pretty difficult to pick up a tiny little kayak.
0:48:42 > 0:48:48Looking good. We've had a possible sighting so they're just going up in the chopper to confirm.
0:48:48 > 0:48:52We'll hear back in half an hour, or so.
0:48:52 > 0:48:57We'll wait and see. We won't get our hopes up too high, yet,
0:48:57 > 0:49:01but yes, I'm feeling confident it's him.
0:49:04 > 0:49:07We may all be able to sleep tonight.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23It was a while and I thought, well, it's getting late,
0:49:23 > 0:49:28and then...this police officer knocked on my door
0:49:28 > 0:49:34and came in with this woman and first thing he said was...
0:49:34 > 0:49:39"I'm James from Te Anau Police. This is Margaret from Victim Support."
0:49:48 > 0:49:51And I pushed her away.
0:49:51 > 0:49:56"What are you bringing this woman from Victim Support in here...? What's going on?"
0:49:56 > 0:49:59And he said, "The kayak's been found. Andrew's not with it."
0:49:59 > 0:50:06And I pushed her away and said, "It is not his boat, it's not him, you go and find him, that's not him."
0:50:24 > 0:50:29Well, I think, um...I actually really knew when he said it.
0:50:29 > 0:50:31As soon as they walked in...
0:50:31 > 0:50:37I knew that...something wasn't right, but I just refused to believe it.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42I was just hysterical and all I could do was hold Finlay.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45And, um...
0:50:48 > 0:50:51I just held him.
0:51:26 > 0:51:34'The trans-Tasman paddle of Australian Andrew McAuley could have cost his life.
0:51:34 > 0:51:38'The 39-year-old adventurer is missing off New Zealand.
0:51:38 > 0:51:42'His upturned kayak was found drifting 80km off Milford Sound.
0:51:42 > 0:51:48'From there, the search has fanned out to cover 2,000 square kilometres of ocean.'
0:51:48 > 0:51:54From the beginning, my biggest concern actually was the approach to New Zealand.
0:51:54 > 0:52:00This part of New Zealand is notoriously dangerous. On a good day, you can get rogue waves.
0:52:00 > 0:52:06Not big waves, but two or three metres that can come out of nowhere.
0:52:06 > 0:52:11Not big, but powerful and very dangerous.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14I have no doubt that a wave got him.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22After he sustained some minor damage to his bubble during the storm,
0:52:22 > 0:52:26which under normal circumstances, was not really significant,
0:52:26 > 0:52:29in the event of a capsize, it became very significant
0:52:29 > 0:52:32because the bubble, which would normally sit on the back,
0:52:32 > 0:52:35one of the attaching points had become disconnected,
0:52:35 > 0:52:40so after that had happened and he capsized, the bubble would then hang down
0:52:40 > 0:52:43and once in that position, it would be impossible
0:52:43 > 0:52:47for a human to have the weight or the strength to right the boat,
0:52:47 > 0:52:52just because of the leverage effect of the casper hanging so much lower down under the boat,
0:52:52 > 0:52:56effectively working like a keel to keep the boat upside down.
0:54:33 > 0:54:36The last moments...
0:54:36 > 0:54:39I can't get out of my head. I don't sleep.
0:54:39 > 0:54:45I just find the not knowing what could possibly have gone wrong, really, really hard.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48It's quite unbearable, really.
0:54:53 > 0:54:55This is my kayak.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00Like any dad, his father...
0:55:00 > 0:55:03had strengths and weaknesses.
0:55:03 > 0:55:07And he will grow up
0:55:07 > 0:55:11being aware of his dad's weaknesses, in some senses...
0:55:13 > 0:55:17He will grow up without having had that opportunity to know his dad.
0:55:26 > 0:55:31The history of our world is made up of people like Andrew McAuley,
0:55:31 > 0:55:35people who just want to discover, people who want to explore.
0:55:35 > 0:55:41To discover new frontiers. And I think we all like this in a way.
0:55:41 > 0:55:44Some of us decide not to do it, or restrain it.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46And others will just go and do it.
0:55:48 > 0:55:52Until Andy started thinking about crossing the Tasman,
0:55:52 > 0:55:57it wasn't in the realm of possibility for a kayaker to single handedly do that.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01But if you start thinking maybe you could,
0:56:01 > 0:56:06then sometimes you can, and he almost did.
0:56:06 > 0:56:11He was about 35 nautical miles off shore. He crossed the Tasman, there's no doubt about that.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15He crossed the Tasman in a single kayak. No-one's ever done that.
0:56:15 > 0:56:21Some people'll argue that he didn't actually set foot on shore, but hey, you know...
0:56:23 > 0:56:24..he made it.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Anyone that says otherwise can get stuffed.
0:56:33 > 0:56:34He made it.