KEY POINTS:
Rescuers are continuing to search for trans-Tasman kayaker Andrew McAuley though there are doubts about whether a call for help last night came from him.
Two boats spent last night searching for the source of a garbled radio broadcast, originating in remote Fiordland.
Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) controller Mike Roberts said today that there was a possibility that it may have been a hoax call.
Mr McAuley's brother Michael said the voice on the message did not sound like his brother, who is attempting to be the first person to paddle from Australia to New Zealand in a kayak.
"We don't think it's Andrew. They have had a good listen to the recording and my father's told me it doesn't sound like Andrew," he told Radio New Zealand.
Rescuers said the best way to resolve the uncertainty was to find Mr McAuley so a n Air Force Orion has been called in to locate him.
The Orion is expected to be over the search area around 3pm.
Two fishing vessels which searched the area early this morning were refuelling in Fiordland but three yachts in the area were still searching. A helicopter was on standby in Milford.
Mr McAuley was expected to arrive in Milford Sound at 9am on Sunda y after leaving Fortescue Bay in Tasmania on January 11.
His emergency beacon has not been activated.
On his 1600km expedition, McAuley had enco untered bad weather, numerous capsizes and attention from s harks.
He was paddling a sea kayak fitted with a cockp it cover, offering some protection from the elements, and a solar panel to power instruments and communications equipment.
The entire journey has been undertaken below the 40th parallel, an area that regularly produces some of the world's worst we ather.
- NZPA
