Pair cross Cook Strait using broomsticks for oars

Two boaties who crossed Cook Strait in a wooden dinghy with oars made from broomstick handles have been attacked for stupidity by one of their rescuers.

The pair, a New Zealander and a Dutchman, sailed from Wellington on Sunday in the four-metre dinghy with a single sail, headed for the Marlborough Sounds.

Astonishingly, they crossed Cook Strait unharmed, but when they reached the entrance to Tory Channel became stranded by the seven-knot (12km/h) current that flows out of Queen Charlotte Sound.

Senior Constable Paul McKenzie, of Picton police, told The Press newspaper it was a miracle the pair had got as far as they did.

It was sheer luck the pair were spotted by a boat chartered by a dive group and rescuers were able to reach them, he said.

"It was the most dangerous thing I've seen. Complete stupidity," Mr McKenzie said.

When asked why they had made the trip, the pair told rescuers: "It was one of life's goals."

- NZPA