Rescued kayakers 'did everything right'

4:11 pm on 16 July 2016

An Auckland man is being treated for hypothermia after he and a friend were swamped by a wave while fishing from a kayak.

The coastguard said the men issued a distress call about 11.30am and a rescue boat found them clinging to the kayak north of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

Coastguard duty officer Johnny Clough said the men were well-prepared.

"They pretty much did everything right - they had lifejackets, or PFDs (personal flotation devices), they had a hand-held VHF marine radio, which is how they issued the distress, and they stayed with their upturned kayak so from an education point of view they did everything they needed to."

Mr Clough said the kayak had been towed to shore.