NZ memorial service for missing kayaker

A New Zealand kayaker presumed drowned of the coast of Scotland was remembered by family and friends at a memorial service here yesterday.

Kester Wigram, 51, a petrochemichal engineer, who grew up in Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington, disappeared last Thursday while kayaking off the Shetlands Islands, where he had lived for a number of years.

Mr Wigram was remembered as a vibrant, "somewhat eccentric" man who was fearless in his outdoor pursuits and non-confirmist in his lifestyle, the Dominion Post reported.

His ex-wife, Lynn Davidson, told the gathering he was a man who "wherever he was...found the beautiful places", and had made the most of his time.

But "if he had to go, death at sea seems somehow right".

- NZPA