'Lucky' kayaker found on rocks near Cathedral Cove in his undies following afternoon of drinking, fishing

The kayaker was on found a rocky shore near Cathedral Cove. Image / Google Maps

A Kiwi kayaker will be lucky to have only a sore head this morning after being found washed up on a rocky shore in his undies following an afternoon of fishing and drinking.

Whitianga Coastguard operations manager Graham Caddie said it appeared the man, who was not a local, had been out on the Coromandel coast from Cooks Beach yesterday afternoon with a group of mates, drinking and fishing.

They were due to return to Cooks Beach about 4.30pm, but one of the men decided to leave the group, and head back out into the bay by himself.

"His mates were a bit concerned for him, as he had been drinking and he was not equipped to be out on the water at that time.

"He had no lifejacket, and was just on a sit-on-top kayak."

The Whitianga Coastguard was contacted just after 7pm, Caddie said.

They sent out two boats and found the young man about 9.30pm, on a rocky shoreline near Cathedral Cove, about 1.5 nautical miles from Cooks Beach.

The only reason they spotted him was because he had taken his pants off, which had a reflective strip on them, and placed them on top of his kayak, Caddie said.

He had fallen in the water and managed to get himself and his kayak back up on to the rocks.

The crew found him sheltering under his kayak, in his undies and singlet.

"He had done the right thing and stripped off, and was sheltering under his kayak to keep warm. He was on the exposed coast, and he was wet."

Apart from being a bit cold the man was in good spirits.

"He was a pretty laid back guy, he just sort of said, 'Oh, have you guys been looking for me?'

"He was a bit cold but in a reasonably good condition considering he had been drinking. He wasn't drunk by the time we found him though."