Kayaker, 73, who survived night lost at sea north of Adelaide says worst part was ‘too many mozzies’

A 73-year-old kayaker who spent the night lost at sea north of Adelaide without his phone says his wife is “happy I’m alive” after he was helicoptered to safety by emergency services.

Goran Radic said he had taken his one-person kayak off Middle Beach, a small coastal suburb about 40km north-west of the Adelaide city centre, “about a thousand times before”.

But on Tuesday afternoon, Radic, a keen fisherman who grew up in Serbia, said he became disoriented in the open water of St Vincent Gulf.

“The moment I didn’t see entrance into the channels I knew something [was] different,” he told local media.

South Australia police said relatives raised the alarm just before 11pm on Tuesday, concerned for Radic’s safety when he hadn’t returned from his kayaking expedition.

SA police’s water operations unit, Polair and volunteer marine rescue crews conducted an extensive water and aerial search overnight with infrared cameras – but they failed to spot Radic.

The search began again on Wednesday morning and the 73-year-old was spotted at about 8.30am sitting in his kayak, 2km south of Middle Beach.

Radic told the media on Wednesday the worst part of his wild night at sea was “too many mozzies [mosquitoes]”.

“I didn’t panic, I was alright,” he said.

“I [saw] a rescue helicopter sometime in the night and they missed me so I decided to go to St Kilda [a coastal hamlet about 20km north-west of Adelaide].

“I … thought lights would guide me there but I didn’t find it, so I kayaked back and they found me this morning.”

Radic said the first thing he did once safe was ring his wife before driving home.

“She’s happy I’m alive, alright, and [asked me] what happened,” he said.

“Thank you so much [to the first responders]. They’re professionals.”

A spokesperson for SA police said Radic was winched to safety by the rescue helicopter and determined to be “in good health” by paramedics at the scene.

“Police wish to thank the public for their assistance in this matter, particularly people familiar with the kayaker who helped guide search efforts,” they said.

Radic’s kayak was recovered by rescuers around midday and pulled to shore with the help of police, the ABC reported.

Radic told media he would be heading out to sea again but would “be more careful” next time.