A Mount Maunganui kayaker is calling for greater sea safety awareness firmly believing too many kayakers are placing themselves at risk whenever they head offshore.

Nathan Pettigrew says this week's incident where a 53-year-old man was dragged from the water by some passing fishermen highlights how a family possibly losing a loved one can be so easily avoided.

Nathan Pettigrew is calling for sea kayakers to take more care on the water. Photo: Bruce Barnard.

Kayak fishing about 1.5km offshore near Harrisons Cut, Papamoa the man found himself in the water after his kayak overturned, unable to re-right it and get back in. He was taken to Tauranga Hospital in a hypothermic state and later discharged.

Nathan, kayaking for about 20 years, is glad the man is okay but believes people need to be cautious of heading offshore if they are unable to re-board a kayak once it has capsized.

He says re-righting the kayak is relatively easy but getting back into it really depends on the individual's fitness and kayak knowledge – likening it to getting out of the deep end of a swimming pool.

'The problem is that people don't put themselves in that situation under instruction; so when they do come out they panic.

'And when you panic you tend to lose your strength and tend to lose focus on what needs to be done.”

The sport of kayak fishing has become popular in recent years with a number of courses specifically available for this type of self-rescue in Tauranga.

The skills taught include re-entry for fishing kayaks, and surfing on a kayak when coming back to shore – inexpensive when it could save someone's life.

Nathan feels too many people are skipping these valuable marine lessons leaving the door wide open for the potential disaster.

'That's what makes the difference in someone living or someone not.”

Tauranga Coastguard operations manager Simon Barker is aware of a spike in people venturing out to sea in kayaks but believes incidents requiring boaties' help are 'few and far between”.

'I'm aware that a lot more people are going out to sea in kayaks. We don't really hear of many instances where people get into trouble,” says Simon.

'But certainly they are probably few and far between and with the right preparation it can be pretty safe out there.”

Simon says the same rules apply to kayakers as they do boaties, where people must check the weather forecast and the offshore winds before heading out, let someone know where they are heading and have a communication device with them.

Nathan says the biggest asset someone can have is intuition above all else.

'I'm not sure why, but so many kayakers have a 'I'll be right' mentality, and don't realise that actually quite a lot can wrong out there, yet for some reason, we tend to throw caution to the wind, and quite often that wind can bite back.”

Keep yourself safe: * Use a properly fitted and brightly coloured buoyancy aid or flotation device. * Use the right kayak for your ability and purposes, whether it be fishing, sea kayaking or for rivers or lakes. * Use navigational lights to increase your visibility to other water users. * Use flags on your kayak. * Use a brightly coloured paddle. * Take a communication device such as a radio or cellphone. * Go out with other people. * Check the weather before you go and stay at home if it's too rough or windy.