Transtasman kayaker Scott Donaldson expected to make landfall

Kiwi Scott Donaldson has now been at sea for six weeks but the transtasman kayaker is expected to make landfall in New Plymouth shortly.

At 4am today Donaldson was sitting about 60km off the coast of New Plymouth after covering 75km yesterday.

The plan was for him to start paddling again at 7.30am and aim for the Port of New Plymouth to make it ashore tonight, according to a statement released by his communications team.

He has a favourable westerly tail wind, though it will be rough at times, but he is fit, strong, and healthy and capable of covering this distance tomorrow, the statement said.

Donaldson will be guided into the Port area by a vessel when he is about 20km out, the main reason for this is to aid his safety as it will be hard for him to navigate in the dark, with the bright lights of Port in front of him.

The team are expecting him to land on Ngamotu Beach between 6pm and 7pm.

Donaldson's wife Sarah is now in New Plymouth.

Donaldson left Coffs Harbour on the New South Wales coast on May 2 and made it to Lord Howe Island in 10 days – a distance of 586km.

Waiting out a storm for seven days, he resumed his journey to New Zealand on May 18, which meant he had been at sea for more than a month.

With his transtasman kayak attempt, Donaldson is raising funds for asthma research. Donaldson himself is an asthma sufferer. Donations can be made via Givealittle.

His tracker on the website will ping every hour today for people to watch his progress at www.tasmankayak.com/tracking/.