Crossing the icy North Sea in a kayak just 21.5in wide was a drop in the ocean for Derek Hutchinson.

Mr Hutchinson, from South Shields, already had one failed attempt under his belt, which resulted in him being plucked from the sea by rescuers.

However, in what he describes as a case of foolhardy determination, a year later he tried again.

In June 1975 he paddled his way into the Guinness Book Of Records for crossing the North Sea in a single kayak - the longest continuous crossing.

He said: "We failed the first time due to a number of things, mainly fatigue, nausea and dehydration.

"But we were determined to take the kayak out of the toy boat class and prove it could make the journey."

All his survival tools were carried on top of the boat, secured by a piece of elastic.

And with no hi-tech equipment apart from a compass, he set off with two friends – Tom Caskey, the founder member of South Shields Sailing Club, and Dave Hellawell, from Felixstowe.

This time there was no fuss or media coverage in case history repeated itself, and they were left shamefaced yet again.

The father of three admits there were some difficulties, including staying awake at night, as it was so easy to drift off to sleep in the dark.

He said: "A kayaker in a single kayak is limited to the distance they can cover by their waking hours.

"We were like butterflies of the sea; once we stopped flapping our wings we would die."

The other, of course, was dealing with the call of nature.

Mr Hutchinson said: "Let's just say it was tricky, one of the team came up with an invention of rubber tubing attached to a condom.