Tasman crossing kayaker's rudder intact after shark took a fancy to it

Supplied/ Rob Wright

Scott Donaldson departing Coffs Harbour, before a shark tried to munch on his rudder.

A Kiwi Kayaker fended off a shark attacking his rudder while attempting to paddle across the Tasman solo.

Scott Donaldson, is undertaking the 2000km crossing between Australia and New Zealand, and is about half way

TVNZ reported that Donaldson had spoken to his wife Sarah via satellite phone.

She told TVNZ he was in good spirits, and he was pleased with how far he had gotten.

As well as the rough sea conditions, Scott Donaldson had also had an encounter with an aggressive shark.

"He had a 2.5m shark chasing him the other day trying to bite the rudder," Sarah told TVNZ.

"Scott would stop paddling and the shark backed off but then once he resumed paddling, the shark would chase him again. The rudder is intact thank goodness."

Donaldson had to be rescued from the Taranaki Coast in his 2014 crossing attempt which finished after 84 days.

Donaldson had been paddling half the Tasman with an unrepairable rudder, sitting out a once in 40-year storm, and looking at Mount Taranaki 80km off the coast of New Zealand before protocol dictated it unsafe to continue.

Donaldson is paddling around 30km a day.

With his trans-Tasman kayak attempt, Donaldson is raising awareness about asthma, a condition he suffers from.

Though Donaldson is alone, he is communicating by satellite phone with his shore team, with text messages from weatherman McDavitt and daily check-ins with his team leader, Nigel Escott, at base.

Follow the kayaker's progress via the website http://tasmankayak.com/