Kiwi kayak in 3300km trip

Press, 4 May 1978, Page 9

Kiwi kayak in 3300km trip

NZPA Miami, Florida A New Zealander, his Canadian wife, and two others have completed a 3300 km ocean passage in kayaks during which they suffered three capsizes, were just missed by a waterspout, and were rammed by a large, white shark. John Dowd, an Aucklander, and his wife, Beatrice, left Cristobal de Corbon, Venezuela, in their 5.4 m canoe on August 11, last year, and arrived in Miami last week-end.

Two Britons, Ken Beard and Stephen Benson, began the voyage in company with the Dowds, paddling a similar fragile canoe. Mr Benson became ill off Haiti with a blood infection, and he was replaced by another Briton, Richard Gillett. Mr Dowd,, aged 33. said that seas ■'* of U P t 0

five metres had been encountered, and large swells in the open ocean had caused little problem. Three open-sea crossings of more than 30 hours apiece were the most tiring episodes, one so exhausting that the party hitched a ride into the nearest port aboard a tug. The big, white shark attacked as the adventurers paddled between New Providence and the island of Andros in the Bahamas. Mr Dowd said: “It was about as big as the boat. It hit us on the side three times — first with its nose. I hit it with the paddle at the same instant, and made it close its mouth. Then it hit us with the fin and tail as it went underneath. “Eventually, it swam away. It could have made a nasty bite in the boat. That would really have upset usd*