Coastal Australian areas on alert as Kawhia yachtie and daughter remain missing

Coastal Australian areas have been put on high alert by child recovery expert Col Chapman who is searching for Alan Langdon and daughter, Que. Photo / Supplied

A child recovery expert is notifying all coastal areas of Australia to be on the look out for missing Kawhia yachtie Alan Langdon and 6-year-old daughter Que.

The Waikato pair have not been seen since sailing over the Kawhia bar in relatively calm conditions on December 17.

The pair told locals they were heading to the Bay of Islands where Langdon would drop Que to his mother. However, Que's mother, Ariane Wyler, was in fact in Switzerland on holiday.

A full scale search of the North Island coast has since ensued, however there has been no sign of the pair.

Col Chapman is an Australian child recovery expert and has been hired by Wyler who hasn't seen her daughter for 20 months, despite Family Court documents stating she be allowed to see her.

Alan Langdon, 49, and 6-year-old daughter Que were travelling in this catamaran when they were last seen sailing over the Kawhia bar last month. Photo / Supplied

Chapman believes Langdon has probably already reached Australian shores, and if not already, he would get there soon.

As New Zealand police are holding on to the case file and treating it as a missing person inquiry, Chapman is doing his own leg work. He wants the file transferred to Australian authorities but police say they can't hand it over without proof that he is over the ditch.

Chapman was critical of police comment about Langdon's boat stating that it would be 'foolhardy' to try the transtasman mission.

"The exact same boat has sailed around the world and another one has just completed a race across the Atlantic.

"The exact same boat has already sailed from NZ to Australia."

A Kawhia resident earlier told the Herald that Langdon had openly talked about fleeing the country under the cover of darkness.

"He just said 'I'm just going to take off in the middle of the night and no one will know which direction I go'.

"Apart from saying that and the fact that everyone watched him load up so much gear, that's about it."

Langdon told people they were heading to the Bay of Islands but by the amount of gear he was packing, including many sealed buckets of items, it was obvious they were going away for a long time, she said.