Transtasman rower adjusts to life on dry land

16th March 2010

Transtasman rower Shaun Quincey still has a liking for cold porridge despite eating it for four days on the trot while battling to make a landing in New Zealand.

The 25-year-old swam ashore at Ninety Mile Beach on Northland's west coast about midday on Sunday, after 53 days at sea and with nearly 4000km of rowing under his belt.

The bacon sandwich he tucked into on the beach was the first food he had eaten for nearly two months that had not been prepared on a  7m boat tossing in big Tasman Sea swells.

As he grew used to being back on steady, dry land in Auckland he said he gave up hot food for the last four days at sea to devote as much time as he could to battling  currents  threatening to sweep him past the top of the North Island. "I had cold porridge every meal for the last four days because I wanted to get in so badly.

"I thought I was going to miss the North Island and it was just working as fast as I could and eat as fast as I could just to keep rowing," he said.

But he said four days of cold porridge had not put him off eating it. "It is not too bad."

Quincey said his fibreglass and plywood  Tasman Trespasser Two came off surprisingly undamaged when he left it to swim ashore through the  3m surf at Ninety Mile Beach yesterday.

"It had a broken aerial and broke part of the solar panel off but structurally it was fine. I would row it again tomorrow. I have been through bigger surf than that in the Tasman."

Quincey's feat was the second by a New Zealand rower. In 1977 his father, Colin Quincey, rowed from New Zealand to Australia and the father and son are the only people to have rowed solo across the Tasman.

His father's  boat was in Auckland's Maritime Museum  and Quincey said it would be nice to see his  alongside.

"I will probably end up selling it but will see what happens ...  It is too early to make decisions."  NZPA