Andrew McAuley, an Australian mountaineer and sea kayaker, had his heart set on becoming the first solo kayaker to travel the tumultuous Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand, spanning some 1,000 miles.
The 38-year-old was no stranger to taking on extreme adventures, having completed peaks across the world with a preference to making his own exploratory routes and several nonstop kayaking expeditions—from the Bass Strait, where six sailors had died in a 1998 yacht race, and the Gulf of Carpentaria to paddling more than 800km in the Antarctic Circle.
However, his attempt to tackle the Tasman Sea in 2007 ended in tragedy.
The father-of-one promised he would keep in touch with his family and friends back on land throughout his travels by sending photographs and video updates.
He videoed himself discussing parts of his trip and in the now ominous footage, he could be heard saying he wanted the trip to be ‘over with’ while powerful storms battered his kayak to the point he had to lock himself inside it to avoid drowning.
In the first week of February, Andrew told his wife, Vicki, that he expected to arrive on land in a matter of days.
However, he never made it.
His welcome home party grew concerned for his welfare when the New Zealand Coast Guard said it had received a distress signal, where only the words ‘help’ and’sinking’ were decipherable.
Andrew’s empty, capsized kayak was then found on February 10, around 30 nautical miles (56 km) short of his destination with only his belongings, radio, and, crucially, a memory card from his camera recovered from the vessel.
The memory card proved vital as it revealed Andrew’s last days alive.