It's never too late to go on the adventure of a lifetime.
Jibe-ho!
But when your experience of sailing on the high seas is limited...
Oh, bloody hell.
This is completely outside our comfort zone.
..and your crewmate is just as rusty...
Things don't always go according to plan.
Man overboard. Ours is that way.
Oh, right. We're not totally up to it - let's admit that.
We'll attempt to tame this glorious traditional yacht.
I just want to learn, I suppose, can I still do it?
I want to feel master of this fabulous big boat.
At least, not feel too incompetent.
Can we pull together as a team?
Come on, John, faster, faster.
I'm going as fast as I humanly can.
Or will old rivalries get the better of us?
OK. Lee-ho.
Helm's alee, actually. Not in my language.
You shouting puts me off.
As we explore Britain's magnificent coastline
It's one of the best day's sailing I think I've ever had.
This is proper sailing.
The next leg of our maritime adventure will take us around
the spectacular southwest coast of England.
Welcome to Cornwall!
Right. OK, Cornwall, how wonderful.
OK, cleat it off.
Yep.
To comply with maritime law and to stop us doing anything too
silly, Mungo and Stella, both professional sailors,
have come along for the ride.
Ease away, mate.
Ease away.
Properly release it.
This is great, I love this bit.
We begin in Fowey, idyllic former stamping ground of novelist
Daphne Du Maurier, and now home to national treasure Dawn French.
I've never been here. Really? No.
Oh, it's absolutely lovely.
From Fowey, we'll be sailing around Dodman Point to Falmouth.
Then we head around the Lizard to Newlyn, where, if all goes to
plan, a special treat awaits us.
But first, the ship's stores have run perilously low, so it's vital
we stock up on essential rations that won't spoil in the summer heat.
So milk. So milk, yep. Bacon. Oh, yeah. Sausages. Bread, bread.
I do a special scrambled egg, you know. Do you? Mmm.
So what does that require?
Well, a bit of Worcester sauce... Cream, go on, yeah. ..and Tabasco.
Right.
And also, John, we do need refreshment.
We do.
How do you spell wine?
According to a strange local legend,
Jesus Christ himself visited Fowey as a child.
Exactly how Jesus got to Cornwall is unclear,
as is whether or not he tucked into the local delicacy.
Now, what about these pasties? Do you like pasties?
Well, to be honest, I'm not...not a great fan.
Having offended an entire county, we move swiftly on.
Now this is a very nice place.
What, the Ship Inn?
No, don't be silly. The butcher's.
Everything will be sold here.
Good afternoon, chaps. Oh, hello, hi.
Some smoked back bacon.
How much would you like? Well, enough for...
No, two slices of the ones at the back.
Four sausages.
The award winning...what's that? Tinny... Pen'n'tinny.
What does that mean? Very famous Cornish sausage.
What's so special about it? The name.
I leave John to buy the ingredients for my show-stopping
scrambled eggs and focus on the fresh vegetables that'll keep
scurvy at bay during our voyage.
Kind of designed to make a fool of you.
You haven't got any Tabasco sauce, have you? Because...
That's a good question. Yeah. There's no Tabasco. No Tabasco.
Everything, everything but. I'm pleased about that.
I don't want fancy scrambled eggs. No? No.
You any good at this?
How do you open it?
Just have to sort of squeeze it.
Always have this trouble in the supermarket.
Right, so we're doing that.
That's milk. How's Michael getting on?
Right, so..
This assumes I can open this up.
Do you want to have a go?
This is meant to be the easy bit.
Here we go. Oh, impressive. Yes! Right.
We only need... We only need one onion. We only need one, I would
think, OK. Wait a minute, John, John, John, wait a minute.
Coffee? We need some coffee, Worcester sauce, Tabasco.
Oh, now, Tabasco they haven't got,
so I've got a feeling you should scrap the idea of...
No! This is my only contribution, this special scrambled egg.
I know, but honestly we've asked about it.
I've asked again and again about Tabasco. No, no, no, no.
Once a dogged reporter, always a dogged reporter.
Michael finally sniffs out what he needs to ruin the scrambled eggs.
Got it.
Got it. That was as triumph.
Sailing a heavy traditional boat like Bonaventure requires
expert teamwork coupled with an absolute respect for your crewmates.
Come on, John, faster, faster.
At stake, a possible mutiny.
I'm going as fast as I humanly can.
Ready?! You shouting puts me off.
There was a sharp edge of criticism, I thought, with every grunt.
No, no, no, not in the slightest.
With no marriage guidance counsellors willing to take
us on, we do what any warring couple in need of a bit of space
would do and get back on the water - in an even smaller boat.
You pop yourself in, OK? Yep.
Oh, my goodness.
That's right, it's a bit of a long way down.
There we go, OK? How comfy is that?
I'm just making sure...
..making sure things are... You're comfortable.
..in the right position.
OK, John? Yeah. I'm in control. No, you're in control.
The whole point of these two-man kayaks,
you've got to be coordinated.
I'm trying to mimic your every move.
Oh, sorry, John.
It's got to be in time.
Such coordination, brilliant.
But then, of course, he has to go and spoil it.
I'm worried about us working so well together, Michael,
instead of against each other - as we normally do.
I know, it goes against the grain, doesn't it, really?
Yeah, we're a sort of happy duo, I don't like that. I know.
No, that's not very good. I like the tough competition.
Paddling along the River Fowey takes me back to a canoeing trip
I made in Africa some 30-odd years ago.
The Zambezi forms the order between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Yeah?
So the right-hand bank, as we were going, was Zimbabwe
and the Mana Pools National Park, it was just fabulous,
all those animals, you know.
Yeah.
This reference to the Zambezi the whole time, did you notice that?
Gosh, I mean, talk about milking a story.
Six days sleeping on stretchers by the side.
Yeah.
There were elephants and lions.
Zambezi this, hippo that.
We camped overnight and a rhino came tiptoeing through.
And then we had crocodiles being mentioned.
I mean, I think we heard a bit too much about the Zambezi,
if I'm being really honest.
I'm considering jumping overboard and ending it all,
but an opportunity to distract Michael presents itself.
Slow down a bit for a moment. What's your name? Steve. Oh, hi, Steve.
We'd like to challenge you. That's fine, yeah.
What, over what distance?
Shall we just go for 30 seconds or something like that?
Oh, 30 seconds? You think you can beat us in 30 seconds?
Oh, ho, ho, a likely story.
OK, so I'll say "one, two, three" and we'll start, shall we? OK.
OK, one, two, three.
Oh.
What's...? Has he got an engine on that or what?
He's showing... How's he done that? He's just showing off.
Yeah, but that's amazing.
Go on, we can catch him. What, we can catch him? Let's do it.
He's so far ahead, I can't hear him shout the 30 seconds.
I think we're gaining on him now.
We're gaining now, yes. Well, he's flagging.
Look, look, we've broken him.
We've broken him.
He hasn't, he's not been able to carry on.
Look, look, he's lost all sense of direction.
He's completely, he's off the course now. He's off the course.
Did we win? I can't...
I couldn't be sure where we were.
You seemed a bit ahead.
No, well done.
We may have lost, but at least our encounter with Steve the
kayaker has shown us we can pull together, one team, one dream.
That was great.
Kayaking was a very good choice
because it's a way of just seeing the river.
That's enough now of that.
Could I handle this on my own, without any paddles? No!
Our little team-building exercise has come just in time.
Tomorrow, we sail Bonaventure to Falmouth,
around the ragged rocks of Dodman Point.
Tomorrow, we're off to Falmouth and everything is fine,
except it depends on the winds.
If the wind just gets in the wrong way, we could be in trouble.
It's a glorious morning in Fowey harbour and, before we embark
on the 25-mile sail to Falmouth,
it's time to give hunger the heave ho.
Breakfast, John? Yes, yes.
What are you going to give us?
My own very special scrambled eggs.
Oh, I know that, that's where it caused all the trouble.
That's the Tabasco sauce and the Worcester..
You've got it, you've got it.
OK, so we have to have that.
Right, so at last you're now actually scrambling the eggs.
Milk has curdled. It'll taste all right.
That looks like the worst scrambled eggs I've ever seen.
That's not true.
Look at that, deep yellow.
If you close one eye and just almost close the other, it'll look perfect.
Now, look, it's all happening. OK.
It's all happening. It's all happening. Excellent.
Ignoring my cries,
Michael delivers the death blow to the scrambled eggs.
That should do the trick.
Finish off any chance of enjoying this breakfast.
Oh, look at this.
Well, thank you very much, Michael. Pleasure. What do you think of these
very special scrambled eggs? Cos I think...
..I've managed to lift the mundane breakfast dish
to something just inches short of sublime.
What's your secret ingredient?
Worcestershire sauce and a dash of Tabasco.
Oh, right. I see.
Actually, it's not bad. If you just took out the Worcestershire sauce
and the Tabasco, it could be quite good.
PHONE BEEPS
Wait a moment, that's.. Down there, wasn't it?
That's my phone.
"Morning, gentlemen, have left a pressie on the tiller."
Oh, look, oh, that's nice.
Oh. Oh, wow. Things are looking up.
This is from Dawn French, isn't that nice?
That's very sweet. Lucky you. That says, "To Michael."
She's made a bit of a mistake there, I thought, "Who's that?"
What do you mean, "mistake"? Well, I thought these were both to me.
"To, John. Happy adventure. Love, Dawn."
Love Dawn? Then two Xs. How many Xs have you got? I've only got one.
Well, there we are, it's bloody obvious, isn't it?
If we're to reach Falmouth safely today,
we'll need to avoid the treacherous rocks of Dodman Point.
And to up the ante even higher, instead of motoring out of Fowey,
we're going to attempt to leave the harbour under sail.
A feat that will require some proper teamwork.
Just think of the boat sailing out of this fantastically
picturesque place, with its glorious sails up, not chugging on the motor.
Slip the bow!
To avoid any squabbling about who should drive,
our crewmate Mungo will man the tiller,
while Michael and I demonstrate we can work together on deck.
On you go, John.
It's imperative we get the sails up quickly
to stop us drifting back onto the dock.
Say when you're out of puff and I'll take over. OK.
THEY LAUGH
That's very good.
Say when you're out of puff and I'll take over.
THEY LAUGH
With the mainsail hoisted, we led the jib all the way out,
allowing the wind to turn us towards the ocean.
So, we're sailing out.
Yeah. That's good.
This is glorious, isn't it?
Which one is Dawn French's house?
It's that one. You see on the rocks coming up? Yeah.
On the rocks.
What a wonderful sight we must be, were she to be at the window.
I know, much love.
Did she say much love to...?
Much love to me. No, no, not you, John, not you.
As the wind dies down, we're forced to favour a slower pace,
the perfect opportunity for John Sergeant, Britain's least
successful fisherman, to pit his wits against the local mackerel.
So, what have you got there?
Right, so this is... It's obviously incredibly complicated.
Yeah, yeah must be. You throw it in and wait.
It could catch more than one at the same time almost
cos you go through a shoal.
You don't seem to be doing too well
in unshipping this, John.. No. I don't...
No, this is where calmness pays off. Oh, right.
Just once false move and your finger's gone.
With the old man of the sea struggling to untangle his line,
and the breeze freshening,
I seize my chance to take over on the tiller
and set course for Dodman Point.
This is the business.
OK, off we go. Yeah.
If the wind just goes,
or if we let the sail out a bit,
we can start hauling in the mackerel.
Nothing yet, John? No, no.
Not a twitch? Not a bite?
A twitch, no, just slow down a bit more.
I can't slow down, it's a sailing boat.
No, but you can let out some of the sail.
No! The sailing's important.
Fishing is just a hobby.
I think what I'm going to do is, actually...
You're going to give up, aren't you?
I'm going to give this up, there we are. Yeah.
Well, I'm glad we've allowed some mackerel to live a little longer.
There's a generosity I think I've got there.
Leaving the mackerel sniggering in our wake,
we turn our attention to the task in hand.
Dodman Point, also known as "Dead Man's Point" because of the
number of shipwrecks that have happened here, towers 114 metres
above the sea and is the highest headland on Cornwall's south coast.
You're looking at one of the great parts of Britain, this...
..this coastline, not only because of its history,
because of its beauty, and because it's just, on a day like this,
very difficult to beat.
This is why I wanted to do this trip, really.
And, to be honest, beforehand, I used to scoff and people who said,
"Oh, I like sailing round England."
You thought, "Oh, yeah, like getting wet and cold in the drizzle,"
and all that sort of stuff
But, actually, I'm beginning to see the point now.
I mean, this is really, really great.
It's what you do this for,
it's one of the best days sailing I think I've ever had.
And here we are, coming into Falmouth.
In order to reach Falmouth, we'll need to sail into the wind
and that means tacking the boat,
a manoeuvre that requires us all to pull together as a team.
Ready to go about?
Ready. Ready. Ready?
Lee-ho.
Ready to go about.
Helm's going over.
Tacking.
It's been a seamless operation
and even our professional crew mates are impressed.
Wow. You're getting pretty good at this. Everything is excellent.
What a team.
We're nearing the harbour, after our six-hour sail,
and, as if sent to greet us, we pass a race between members of the
Falmouth Working Boat Association.
These were the original oyster dredging fleet, which is
pretty much the only time in the whole year when they all come out.
I don't remember ever seeing anything like this, it's wonderful.
Gosh, what a fantastic day.
Every day at sailing is slightly different,
but the good ones stick in your mind. This will stick in my mind.
Made it.
We'll be back on the water tomorrow,
for an appointment with some men who are even braver than us,
preparing to take on arguably the toughest of ocean challenges.
This morning we're heading up the Fal River to Mylor
to meet a team of adventurers who are about to take on one of
the most challenging races on earth.
Tally-ho. Tally-ho, let's go.
As we motor out of Falmouth Harbour,
a couple of local ruffians show up to see us off.
Hi, swans.
Always wanted to see if they really could break your arm, they're meant
to. Well, let's see if they're attracted by the arm.
Could you break this? They're off, you see, frightened.
This evening, we've been invited to a sea shanty festival.
I need to rehearse,
which means treating my shipmates to an impromptu recital.
# There's plenty of gold, so I've been told either way... #
Michael is practising those sea shanties
and you can't stop him, and it's going to go on and on.
I'm limbering up for the singing.
You've got to get the tonsils free,
you've got to get the vocal cords working,
and I'm not expecting a great deal of support from John, actually.
I mean, he's got a voice like a bullfrog is the truth of the matter.
Hitching a lift into Mylor Harbour, we catch a glimpse of a
strange-looking vessel.
Oh, there they are.
Oh, right, look at that.
It's the Atlantic seamen we've come to meet.
Amateur rowers, who will be competing in a 3,000-mile
transatlantic race - The Talisker Challenge.
Hi. Hi. Michael. Bez.
Have you done anything like this before? No.
Is it wise? I mean, is it too late to pull out?
Far too late. Unfortunately.
So what are you actually doing?
So we're rowing across the Atlantic, from the Canaries to Antigua,
and it all started off with me and Bez chatting in the pub one night,
a few pints, next few days we were signed up.
How long's it going to take you?
Oh, that's the question.
It's going to take us about 40-odd days.
When we do the row, most of the time, you've got to row naked. Why?
Because of salt sores and all that sort of stuff, so...
You'll row naked across the Atlantic?
Yes, yes, we will know each other really well.
Right, yes. Well, John... Can we have a go?
Come aboard. Indeed. Right.
Come on, take your kit off. OK, right, no, don't be silly.
We're aware we'll be disappointing the public,
but John and I refused to go commando while we see if
we've got what it takes to row for 40 days straight.
And in the water, away together, and..
..in.
In.
Perfect. Right, Antigua, here we come.
That's it, boys.
Before they're allowed to compete in the transatlantic race,
the Atlantic seamen will need to complete 96 hours of training.
Take it nice and steady.
Less than 96 seconds into our voyage,
John decides he's had enough.
Right...
Well, that's it for me. I think I'll take a rest.
So much for one team, one dream.
It's tough, isn't it? That really is.
OK, chaps. Well, you do the rest of the Atlantic row on your own.
I think I'll skip the next seven weeks.
Well, I was a bit disappointed with John, actually,
but he was quite right, you know, I mean,
he did about 30 seconds and then...and then stopped.
You know, I really hope he didn't get any blisters.
What a lovely day to be rowed.
Do you feel a bit like Cleopatra, John?
I feel better than that... This is your barge.
I find, with rowing, there's no point
in showing off about how good you are at it.
Or indeed rowing.
It was great, you really felt quite powerful,
concentrating and keeping in unison,
you know, it was quite a challenge to do,
for about five or ten minutes.
The idea of doing it for 40-odd days,
it just beggars belief, I think.
They come across as being amazingly normal, non-mad people
doing something quite exceptional, and I think they are very,
very inspired and they're inspiring the rest of us.
So, my admiration for those guys is, well, goes to the top.
I really wish them well, but, gosh, you wouldn't get me doing it.
OK, so I've slightly let the team down on the boat today,
but I've got a chance to redeem myself by joining Michael at his
treasured sea shanty festival.
# And we'll row the whole chariot along, we'll row... #
Sea shanties are an important part of coastal culture...
# We'll row the old chariots along... #
..with many choirs competing in festivals across Europe...
..and Falmouth is one of the hotspots.
I think he's forgotten the words, John.
THEY SING
Femmes de la Mer is one of Cornwall's
leading sea shanty groups.
# There's seven more buses from this day forth woo! #
Plucking up our courage,
we ask if two hommes de la mer can join them for a shanty.
We've got a song. Yeah.
It's called Leave Her, Johnny. Oh, we know that!
You know that? Right.
# Now the times are hard and the wage is low
# Leave her, Johnny, leave her
# Oh, leave her, Johnny, leave her
# For the voyage is done and the winds don't blow
# And it's time for us to leave her. #
Woohoo! Very good.
By the time we're done, there's not a dry eye in the house.
Homme de la mer have taken the Falmouth Sea Shanty Festival by
storm and our greatest hits album will be hitting record stores soon.
ALL: Wahey!
The next morning, some strong coffee is required
as we gird our loins ahead of today's sail -
40 miles around Lizard Point to Newlyn.
But first things first.
Well, now we were told last night by one of the people
at the Shanty Festival
where we should look for these fish and it's...
..I can't remember where it was. Oh, that's great.
It's something like Old Wall, Gold Wall,
anything on the map that's like that? OK. Yep.
We've got Old Wall just a mile off the headland.
What is that, that's a patch of shallow water, is it? Yeah.
It's a patch of solid fish.
Solid fish, that's...
They're waiting to be caught.
Michael, this could be the day, honestly.
I feel it. Do you?
You'll go back through all your experiences,
both at home and abroad,
and you'll come down to one simple little sail from Falmouth,
with your chum John, fishing.
Look at these, yeah, we'll wave at them.
You know, it's very hard to wave when you're rowing.
Yeah, well, John wouldn't know.
The Old Wall is a popular fishing spot about half a mile
offshore from the lighthouse at Falmouth.
Well, I think this feels right, it smells right.
Can't quite smell the fish, but we will do, when we bring them on board.
Any mackerel around here don't stand a chance.
How do you work this thing? Take that off here.
If they know that's good for them, the fish would make it easy
on themselves and jump straight into the boat of their own accord.
Why's.. Oh, that's it. The brake's on.
That's going down, the other way! Whoops.
Which way is that going? Is that winding it in?
Nothing's happening, actually.
Oh, yeah. Go.. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Right, so when you throw it... Yeah.
..release it, and then flick it over when it's gone enough, OK? OK.
Well, it's not far but...
I do hope we're not going to catch each other, John.
Well, it'd be better than nothing.
30 minutes later and it'd seem the mackerel
are more wily than we give them credit for.
See, the problem is there may not be
any fish under this boat - that's the problem.
How can we possibly catch something that's not there?
There, they just caught one.
Where? Did they?
He just pulled in a fish.
The swine.
People love incompetence.
I've spent all of my life being paid large sums of money for
being incompetent and it seems to work.
If I was really competent, it'd be boring.
This is thrilling.
You're far too impatient.
I'm not impatient.
The excitement's unbearable, John.
Amazingly, it turns out that even John's patience has its limits.
Reel them in, that's it. Reel them in.
Another experiment failed.
I'm going to go down into the hold and just have an enormous vodka.
Sadly, I am denied even that small pleasure as I am required back on
deck to help sail Bonaventure towards the Lizard.
Yeah, keep going.
Keep going. Are you all right? Faster.
Keep going, don't slacken.
That's about it, that's wonderful.
No, well done. Do you want to go and rest now?
You can tidy it up.
Well, this is sailing, isn't it?
I mean, this is activity, this is getting something done,
not standing there, waving your willy at the fish.
The Lizard is the most southerly point on mainland Britain,
a notorious shipping hazard.
It's here that the Spanish Armada was first
spotted approaching England in July 1588.
This is another of Britain's great landmarks, isn't it? Yeah.
When you think of how many sailors
have lost their lives on this stretch of coast. Yeah.
Just as well there's a sailor on the tiller with the skill and
fortitude to navigate this perilous coastline safely.
I hate to say this, but we're heading for the rocks, you said?
And we are heading for the rocks, yeah. We are, yes.
Are we all ready to tack? Yeah. Yeah. OK. Ready to tack.
OK, helm to lee.
OK, lee-ho.
Helm to Lee.
Lee-ho. OK.
Lee-ho.
Come on, go round.
Think that's it.
With Bonaventure and his crew performing perfectly,
Captain Sergeant comes over all philosophical.
That's what real sailing's about, being with the sea,
not on the sea, against the sea, with the sea.
You see, you're getting it. Oh, yes, yes.
You're getting the idea.
And this trip looks set to get even better,
as tomorrow I'm hoping to fulfil an ambition I've had since I was a boy.
This maritime adventure is showing Michael and I what can be achieved
when we work together as a team.
See you, have fun. Farewell. Behave yourselves, now.
Be careful. Look after the boat, please.
But today we're meeting a group who risk their lives to help
others on a regular basis.
We're going to go on one of these things, it's a lifeboat,
and it's very exciting.
I've always wanted to go on a lifeboat,
it has been a lifelong ambition.
Anyone who sails knows how marvellous these people can
be because they're heroes.
The RNLI has been saving lives at sea for almost 200 years,
and the story of Newlyn's lifeboat is one of the most poignant
and heroic in the charity's history.
They'll come running down,
probably miss every other step as they're running. Yes!
Martin Brockman looks after the
former lifeboat station at nearby Penlee Point.
So it's a big, old empty station at the moment,
but obviously when the boat was in here... Yeah.
..the boat literally filled the whole of the lifeboat station.
Filled it, yeah. It was... it was huge.
The station closed after the tragedy of the Solomon Browne in 1981.
That night, Solomon Browne launched into monstrous seas that eye
witnesses claim never to have seen before or since.
She launched at 8:12pm, on request of the coastguards.
They say that on that night they opened the doors and the
waves were hitting the slip and coming inside here,
blowing, gusting, hurricane force. Yeah..
The cargo ship Union Star was on her maiden voyage from Holland
when her engines failed in the force 12 hurricane.
William Trevelyan Richards, Coxswain of the Solomon Browne,
led an eight-strong crew on the rescue mission.
There wasn't a huge amount the lifeboat could do, it was trying to
get the passengers and the crew off the Union Star onto the lifeboat.
At one stage, the lifeboat even got lifted up and was dropped
onto the deck of the Union Star, and then slid back into the water
again, and then went round and had another attempt.
Four survivors were hauled onto the lifeboat,
but then all radio communication was suddenly lost.
By then, wreckage had started coming ashore
and it was fairly obvious we'd lost the boat.
The eight crew and passengers on the Union Star
and the entire crew of Solomon Browne were lost.
Martin's father Nigel was one of them.
Can you remember when you were told that your father had been killed?
Yeah, I was woken up.
My mum and my great auntie woke me up.
It was my birthday two days before, so I was just ten,
literally just ten.
It was...it was very surreal.
Yeah. Yes.
It was still blowing a gale the next day and all you could hear was
helicopters going up and down, and the fishing fleet were out in
a gale to try and help and search where they could.
Everybody expected to find them, you know. Yeah.
But did it take you a long time to realise you had lost your father?
It took several weeks before it really sort of hit home.
Awful. Shouldn't ever happened, should it?
No. My brother Neil came out that night as well,
he got himself ready to go, put his life jacket and all on, got on
boat the life boat and Trevelyan refused him, said, "No, off.
"Only one member from each family tonight."
And Trevelyan took him off the boat.
It's a thought-provoking place, isn't it?
It just shows what's at stake here.
These people going out into effectively a hurricane
and knowing that they were putting their lives at risk to try
and save other people.
And that telling point about how the coxswain wouldn't take more than
one person from any family and that just shows you,
in a very moving way,
how the coxswain knew the risks that they were all running that night.
But it just...
..just shows you what the institution's about.
Today, this treacherous coastline is under the watch of the new
Penlee Station and it's lifeboat - the Ivan Ellen.
Hello. Nice to meet you, nice to meet you.
Oh, you're the coxswain. I am, yes. What's your name?
Patrick, or everyone calls me Pat.
This is it.
I'm about to go on a lifeboat,
but first I need to make sure I look the part.
Look what do you think? Look, what do you think? I'm a lifeboat man.
Problem is most of our guys here are quite big chaps, there's not many...
That almost meets in the middle, look.
That's a medium too, so you'll be happy with that. So, you know...
Right, I'm a medium lifeboat man,
so, if anyone asks me, I'll just say that's how I fit in.
That's it, right.
Say hello to some of the crew.
Right, what do you think? Do we look the part?
You're looking pretty good. Really? Convincing?
Yeah? Almost.
The look on his face! "Almost"?
Well, now you're kitted up, we're going to right go on exercise
right now. Go on exercise? These guys are going to get kitted up and
we're going to go afloat right now, so let's go.
As if you had a shout? Yeah, let's go, we're going now.
Well, we were hoping to go on the boat, but we weren't expecting this.
It's like as if we were going to the moon.
Each lifeboat crew runs weekly training sessions
and today they're taking us on a man overboard exercise.
Were you running? Yes, you've got to.
I'm just feeling so hot.
I mean, this is just the basic gear
and I've still got to save somebody from drowning.
Right then, chaps, cast her off.
Better view up here.
So, for our exercise today, we've got a report of someone in the water
near St Michael's Mount, so we're going to get there, try and locate
him, get him out of the water as fast as possible.
So, once we get clear of the gaps, we'll...
..we'll put the hammers down.
There we go, full speed.
Oh, that's great.
Do you want a go with the helm? Yeah.
We're aiming towards St Michael's Mount, so I'll...
..I'll get out of your way. Thanks.
Do you want any help with this? You can have a go in a moment.
Well... I'd better not run down this yacht.
There's St Michael's Mount... Got him, got him.
You're very steady, if I may say so, yeah.
It's a feeling of real power though, isn't it?
It is, and you have that power. And I have that power.
I was beginning to think Michael would never give up the helm,
in fact, stop me fulfilling my childhood dream.
I was going to kick him, but I thought, "No."
And at the last moment, he managed to pull away.
He realised that he just couldn't stay there all the time.
Oh, it's a real thrill. Can I have a go now?
Of course you can. There you go, John.
You have control. OK.
And there it was, heaven.
It's amazing, once you start to turn it...
Can you feel the boat leaning? I do.
I've flown a spitfire, you know,
so it's this and a spitfire, it's not bad, is it?
It was terrific, I mean, you build up expectations
and you think it won't be very good, but it was good.
It had power, those engines, wow, gosh, this is what...
..this is what sort of boy's stuff's all made of, isn't it?
Right, do you mind if I take over? Yeah, on you go, Pat.
We're getting close to where hopefully he'll be now. OK.
I think I can see it right here, you see? I can't see anything.
Something orange? Yeah, I can see it.
So what I'll do now is, when we get close... Yeah.
..one of the crew will jump in and he'll swim the person alongside the
lifeboat, and then you and John will go down
and help the guys recover the person onto the boat.
You don't want us to jump in the...? No, no, no.
Please don't jump in.
The man overboard is actually a 40-kilo dummy,
known affectionately to the crew as "Dead Fred."
Got to hurry, this is..
It may seem like an exercise, but it's rough.
They both seem all right.
He's swimming to..
Oh, they're going to pull him in there.
Have you got the stretcher board? Yeah.
This one's for under the arms mate, all right?
When you're ready, guys. Yeah, OK, here we go. Here we go.
We're told it's vital to lift a person overboard horizontally
to avoid a drop in blood pressure and cardiac arrest.
You learn something new every day.
You OK? Yeah, now just you've trapped my fingers.
Oh, no, we can't have that.
OK, guys, if you just lower, slowly.
Perfect, great.
Mission accomplished.
Dead Fred lives to be man overboard another day.
Well done, chaps,
thanks for recovering and looking after Dead Fred.
It was largely down to us,
I felt, at the end of the day. Well done, Fred.
The whole exercise is pretty impressive, isn't it?
The speed of reaction.
The sense of a team.
Had I been Dead Fred, or not so dead Fred,
is there anything more of a relief than seeing an RNLI lifeboat
thundering towards you and knowing you're not going to die after all?
I think they're absolutely marvellous.
Whenever I'm messing around in boats, which is quite a lot,
I'm just so relieved that you've got these super guys who will
know what to do, get the gear on, roar across and save me,
and I'm delighted to be here among them.
One of them, really, with my gear on.
Thanks a lot.
Ignoring the Penlee Lifeboat crew's pleas for Michael and I to
join their ranks, we bid farewell to our new friends.
And with a lot more sailing still ahead of us,
we hope we don't meet them again any time soon.
What will remain with us is what
they've taught us about working together
and so it's with a renewed sense of team spirit that we power
away on the final leg of our voyage of discovery.
Ready to go about?
Jibe-ho!
Next time... Let's party. ..we're sailing solo.
Gosh, it's hard, isn't it?
And find ourselves in over our heads.
The words "help" and "panic" may come into it.
Oh. Ow!
Subtitles by Red Bee Media