Rower drifting off Stewart Island

Dogged solo rower Oliver Hicks chose to spend last night drifting near the bottom of Stewart Island rather than be towed ashore yesterday, after his support boat ventured out to meet him.

Bluff Fisherman's Shore Station operator Meri Leask said the Bluff fishing boat Shangri-La carried Hicks' manager George Olver out to his position, 24km west of Stewart Island's Southwest Cape.

Mr Hicks was still adamant about making land on his own, rather than taking the safer option of being towed ashore, she said.

"They decided to leave him overnight, with his sea anchor out, and visit him again in the morning."

Mr Hicks was experiencing 27 to 37kmh north-northwesterly winds, a 2m to 3m swell and passing showers yesterday, she said.

"At the end of the day it's his call, and he seem very happy with his situation."

It was difficult to determine exactly how far Hicks might drift overnight, Mrs Leask said.

The Shangri-La based itself on one of the Muttonbird Islands overnight, she said.

Mr Hicks, who left Tasmania on January 29 in his 200,000 (NZ$504,000) state-of-the-art row boat, had planned to spend 18 to 22 months circumnavigating Antarctica as a solo oarsman.

However, the slow progress of his boat The Flying Carrot forced him to abandon that journey two weeks ago and head for Stewart Island.

He had blamed the bulkiness of his boat and the danger posed by an unprecedented amount of ice coming from the Ross ice shelf as the reasons why he had only covered half the distance he had hoped since launching.

michael.forbes@stl.co.nz

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