A kayaker blown offshore when he went for a paddle in a howling gale at Pukehina Beach yesterday is recovering at home after being found in the sea.

Maketu coastguard brought the 46-year-old Auckland man ashore in a hypothermic condition at Ford's Cut shortly before 6pm before flying him to Tauranga Hospital.

Eastpac Rescue picked up the kayaker shortly before 6pm yesterday.

Emergency services were called at around 3pm by family members who could no longer see the man in his kayak.

Maketu Coastguard's EastPac Rescue was alerted by police of the kayaker who was roughly two kilometres off Pukehina beach, says coastguard president Shane Beech.

When they came across the kayak, nobody was on it and the search was upgraded once the duty officer had been alerted.

'We just thought we were heading out to collect a kayaker that had been pulled out by the wind,” says Shane. 'It was a bit of a shock to us to find the kayak and the kayaker not there.”

At the height of the search there were four Coast Guard vessels from Maketu, Whakatane and Tauranga involved along withthe Bay Trust Rescue Helicopter from Rotorua and a private boat that was in the area and offered to assist.

'They found the paddle and then probably an hour and a half later Eastpac Rescue found the guy in the water,” says Shane.

'We managed to pull him on-board. He wasn't very happy. He was quite out of energy, hypothermic and semi-conscious.

'Maketu fire brigade was alerted for medical assistance to meet us back on shore.

'He was very lucky. It was ferocious and he was one very lucky boy. It was horrible - the wind chop was quite lumpy.

'It was blowing at least 30 knots, it was howling out there. Close inshore was good but the further you went out the worse it got. We estimate he was three-four kilometres off shore.”

The Rotorua based BayTrust Rescue helicopter was dispatched to the search off Pukehina Beach, complete with a winch and a rescue swimmer on board.

He was then flown to Tauranga Hospital, who stated today that the man was discharged last night.

Tauranga Police say the man, who was wearing a life jacket, was in the water from 3pm until about 5.30pm.

The efforts of the Search and Rescue groups who assisted in the search and subsequent locating of the man were today praised by sergeant Craig Madden of the Western Bay of Plenty SAR

'It was only because the kayaker was wearing a life jacket that he was located alive,” says Craig.

'And because of the fact he let someone know what he was doing, who raised the alarm when he got into difficulty.'

Conditions at Pukehina on Sunday afternoon, with very strong off shore winds, were unsuitable for kayaking says Craig. He reminds people to check the marine weather forecast before taking to the water.