Thread: LOST Kontiki

Interesting story about an unfortunate bugger who put a Seahorse on layby with a local store in Hastings in January as a Christmas present for his kids.
Picked it up just before Christmas and headed to Porangahau Beach in Central Hawkes Bay for their annual family camping trip. First time using a motorized kontiki, the kids got excited and launched it.....without attaching the backbone...
Insurance claim was made, kontiki was replaced......
Then 6 months later, a call from Seahorse in Tauranga saying that the old kontiki had been recovered......Seahorse had serviced it and removed all the barnacles and traced back the serial number.
Apparently, there is a huge swirling mass of rubbish halfway between the Chatham Islands and the mainland where various sea currents converge; supply vessels to the Chathams routinely call past this mass of sea-crap to see if there is anything interesting and the kontiki was recovered.
Insurance company was notified - but advised that as the claim had already been settled, he could keep the old one with no issues.