Peeter Pedaja (also known as Peter Pedaya and Stanley Lexton, August 24, 1931 – October 17, 1985) was an Estonian Australian refugee, sculptor and adventurer, best known for his multiple attempts at sea crossings in oil drum vessels of his own construction.

By the early 1940s, Pedaja's father was arrested by the Soviets and sentenced to a slave labour camp, while his mother and two sisters managed to flee Estonia by boat as refugees.

Still a teenager, Pedaja then dedicated several years to finding a way across the Iron Curtain by various means of transport and subterfuge to reunite with his family.

He made it to Stockholm by 1947, where he found one of his sisters, began learning English and told his life story to the international news media.

He departed from West Germany on HMAS Kanimbla as one of 429 male unaccompanied and mostly unmarried displaced men from Baltic nations, specifically chosen to meet this criteria by Australian authorities.

At the time, the cause of this riot was reported as "a dispute with an Italian civillian, who accused the sailors of being drunk and molesting an old beggar woman.

[10] Pedaja decided he wished to join them again, and rode the approximately 3,300 km from Perth to Melbourne across the Nullarbor Plain on a pushbike during the Australian summer.

Heading further south, he then forced a car to stop between Landsborough and Nambour and demanded money from the driver, before speeding off and eventually being arrested by Queensland police.

"[18] In 1952, he advertised in The Age newspaper for young men to join him on an expedition to Western Australia to start a timber milling, pearl and whale fishing station in exchange for a £16 fee.

"[19] In 1953, he made a name for himself in Perth as a rock sculptor, carving elaborate scenes into the cliff face at Cottesloe Beach.

[24] He may have been inspired by Australian artist Ian Fairweather, who had attempted the same route on a raft made from aircraft fuel tanks in 1952, ultimately landing on Rote Island.

[25] On the morning of his departure, a passerby named Gregory Black assisted Pedaja to tow the oil drum vessel across the beach.

"[28] Black took a photo of Pedaja brandishing a paddle in the Wakefield that is available to view on the State Library of New South Wales public online catalogue.

After several nights lost at sea, Pedaja was ultimately rescued thanks to a chance discovery by the vessel Temora, which had mistaken him for a floating buoy.

[31] Upon returning to Darwin, Pedaja began work on a third design: I’ll make it a little bigger, give myself a place to lie down, and put up a sail.

After that, using the wind for fuel, I think I could become the first man to sail around the world in an oil drum... You can't sink a sealed tin, and that is just what I would represent.

[32][33]In 1959, Pedaja attempted to cross the Tasman Sea from Sydney to New Zealand in a new oil drum vessel with an improved design.

Australian maritime authorities attempted to impress on Pedaja that the vessel was unseaworthy and that an air and sea search for him would be costly and potentially dangerous in itself.

[37] Pedaja insisted he would still make the attempt, partly because he wanted to convince the Estonian government to allow his father to migrate to Australia: The communists won't let him go unless they can get some favourable publicity from it.

[38][39]On December 13, 1959, a large crowd gathered at Frenchmans Beach in La Perouse to watch Pedaja depart for New Zealand.

[40] He drifted for an hour in the wrong direction and was ultimately towed back to La Perouse by the Volunteer Coastal Patrol vessel Pudaloo.

[41] Pedaja's attempt was front page news on the following day's edition of The Sydney Morning Herald, under the headline "Canoe Voyage Held Up By Rudder Trouble: Oil Drum Trip Lasted an Hour.

[43] Two days later, Pedaja then accepted an offer from Manly Pool to sell them the Can-Tiki so that children could play on it during the school holidays.

In 1967, Pedaja's mother Rosalie passed away suddenly after being hit by a car while attempting to cross the road in front of the 67 tram in St Kilda.

[56] Despite the international media attention he received during his lifetime, Pedaja's story apparently became mostly forgotten in both Australian and Estonian history.