The Quincey family are celebrating the latest chapter in their special, if somewhat quirky, relationship with the Tasman Sea.

New Zealander Shaun Quincey, 25, yesterday landed on a remote beach in the far north of the country to become only the second person to complete a solo journey of the Tasman – a feat equalled only by his father.

Dozens of supporters drove hundreds of kilometres to welcome Quincey home. After 54 days at sea, it was little wonder he was so relieved to feel sand under his feet.

“There were plenty of times I thought I wouldn’t make it. There were, you know in between the capsize and hitting the whale and everything, there were plenty of times when I thought, ‘Oh, I am not going to get here’,” he said.

The New Zealander swam the last 300 metres into shore. He was worried the three-metre swell might damage his boat. It was eventually towed in – intact – by his support crew.

“Absolutely amazing to be able to share this, be the first person to arrive here and my dad was the first person to row the Tasman in the other direction. It is just unbelievable,” he said.

Family and friends and even those who did not know him were there to greet New Zealand’s newest record holder.

“I think we ended up rowing about 4,000 kilometres in the end so, yeah… it is very good to be here,” he said.

Among the supporters was his mother, Nanette Quincey, who said it was wonderful to welcome him home.

“It is just the nicest experience. You never know what the answer is going to be until right at the last moment and it was a great ending,” Ms Quincey said.

Local Lorraine Steel was equally impressed.

“I can’t get over how well and fit he looks. He just looks amazing like he has walked out of the gym. Looks great … Good on him,” she said.

Most of the group had been up before sunrise and many had tracked his movements over the internet.

Like father, like son

One person keeping a close eye from afar was his father, Colin Quincey, who spoke to reporters from his home in Darwin.

“My motivation for doing my trip was a bit to do with encouraging young people to challenge and to dare, to get out there,” he said.

“I never thought that my son would be one of those young people.”

But the end of Shaun Quincey’s trip did not quite go to plan. Several times his supporters had to move camp, shifting north up the beach as they tried to meet him when he came to shore.

One of the first things the New Zealander did when he came ashore was find a freshly made sandwich; he had been eating packet food for more than seven weeks.

“It’s going to take me a few days to come to terms with the fact that I’ve been at sea for 54 days,” he said.

“I’ve just got to need to come to terms with that and relax and I think then I’ll be OK.”

Shaun Quincey is now taking that well-earned break.