In 1959, a carpenter from Enniscorthy named Thomas Kehoe had enough of the bad weather and decided to go to Spain. He didn’t fly from Dublin; instead, he made his own canoe and paddled it across the turbulent Irish Sea.

Unfortunately, the strong tides took him off course, and he ended up not on a sandy beach in Spain but on Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire. Tired, thirsty and hungry, he made his way to the mainland. He stopped in St Davids, the capital of Pembrokeshire and stocked up on vital supplies, which included copious amounts of chocolate and vitamins, before setting sail again.

Thomas Kehoe’s unexpected adventure across the Irish Sea inspired three young men to attempt the same record-breaking voyage to Pembrokeshire a year later.