Police say an 18-year-old man who made an overnight trip across Cook Strait in a tiny motorised dinghy initially claimed to have left from Porirua Harbour.
The teenager had in fact started out from the South Island's Kenepuru Sound late on Wednesday night before heading out into the Cook Strait.
On Thursday morning, police were finally able to geo-locate the man to a spot off the Mana coast using his mobile phone signal.
Senior Sergeant Dave Houston of Wellington Maritime police told reporter Charlotte Cook that the man had decided to visit a relative.
