It's never too late to go on the adventure of a lifetime.
Gybe ho!
But when your experience of sailing on the high seas is limited...
Ooh, bloody hell.
This is completely outside our comfort zone.
..and your crew mate is just as rusty...
Argh.
..things don't always go according to plan.
Man overboard.
Houses 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.
Urgh!
At least, not feel too incompetent.
Ooh!
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.
For the fourth and final leg of our epic sailing adventure,
we've returned to the historic port of Falmouth.
Over the past three weeks, we've been learning how to handle
Bonaventure, our 50-foot long Bermudan cutter.
Ready to go about? Ready.
Ready. Lee ho.
Under the watchful eye of two professional crew,
we've navigated courses through the Thames Estuary
with its maze of sandbanks.
We're not out of the woods yet, Captain. We're doomed.
The busy shipping lanes of the Solent.
HORN BLOWS What's he doing that for?
That means, get out of the way.
And the treacherous Cornish coast.
We are heading for the rocks. Yeah, well done.
But now it's time to go it alone.
For this final leg,
Michael and I have been given command of Bonaventure.
It will be our responsibility to navigate and sail east
along the coast of Devon to Brixham.
We hope to arrive with our yacht and our friendship still intact.
It's a new world for us, you know, Michael, this.
This is where I show my strength.
It's a moment of truth really, isn't it? One way or another.
We're not totally up to it.
Let's admit that.
There are going to be moment when the words help and panic
may come into it.
We'll come out of Falmouth here, round St Anthony's Head.
The key thing to look out for is don't sort of get too close
to any of the edges.
That's a nautical term, is it? Some of the edges,
The edges, yeah. Yeah.
The question of who's in charge has still not been quite resolved.
Only problem about Michael is that he does think instinctively
that he's the authority figure.
It comes from all those years of news reading.
We don't want to place the boat or ourselves in any kind of
jeopardy, do we, John? No.
So I think you really should take a bit of a back-seat.
But there will be moments when I will take command.
If things get difficult.
A lot of the other time I will let you be captain.
That's roughly the plan.
Is that OK? All right, it's a deal.
We sail on the tide tomorrow morning, which gives me an
entire afternoon to deal with an issue that's been the cause
of bad blood between John and me since we first became shipmates.
This fishing business has proved to be a bit of a point of
difference between John and me.
So what I've arranged
is to meet up with some proper fisherman
who actually catch fish for a living, and then maybe he can
get it out of his system and we can get on with the sailing.
You don't feel... Your nose isn't put out of joint?
No. With a real fisherman and all that sort of stuff.
No, the great fisherman always listens to other fishermen.
The great fisherman has thus far failed to catch a single fish.
Perhaps brothers Ivor and Cameron will help improve his luck.
What are our chances?
Well, the chances are pretty slim because of the time of day
and that sun is really high.
That's the reason we never caught anything. That's the reason.
The great fisherman didn't actually realise that fishing in the
middle of the day, which is what we were doing, is not a terribly
good idea because the fish don't like the bright light.
You won't see any mackerel boats out here catching mackerel
this time of day. No, exactly. Be early morning or late evening.
Exactly.
They're obviously grateful that John has shared some of his
encyclopaedic knowledge of mackerel fishing with them.
Ivor and Cameron get back to their day job.
OK.
I caught all these.
Caught all these yourself.
Yeah, get your hands in there, John. Get in there.
That's too small, isn't it? Yeah.
Well, if it's too small, what we've got to do with small stuff,
we throw it over the side.
What about that one?
Try that one again, John. Though it's a female.
Oh, right. It's carrying its eggs.
Oh, right. So it'll have to go back.
Oh, right. That's the future there.
OK, good luck and all that.
Soon we come to understand why crab fishing is considered
such a dangerous profession.
Do they... Do they nip?
They do, actually. Yeah, they do nip. No, you need the gloves.
Michael courageously puts his soft newsreader's hands on the line.
Some nice ones in there.
Now, how do I approach... Ooh!
Sorry about that.
Well, hang on a second.
Time is money. Ah!
Lovely. That's the female.
Hold on. Oh no, careful now.
Got to gauge it.
Gauge it.
Yeah, that's a goner.
Come on, Michael, hurry up.
Yeah, come on.
Let go! Oh, that's a nice big one.
Look at that!
It was actually quite exciting.
For the first very time, I can see the point of fishing.
It's a hard job though, isn't it?
I mean, physically, it's very hard. Very physical job, yeah.
Six days a week, 12 hours a day.
Really? Yeah.
Well, that's illegal, isn't it?
You only get in life what you put into it, and if you put time
and effort in anything, it's said you will come out smelling of roses.
Yeah, well that's why I... You don't smell of roses.
Not on here. I have to tell you.
THEY LAUGH
Returning to port, the great fisherman is in a reflective mood.
We've learnt something, haven't we, today?
Well, we've caught something, which is more to the point, which I...
OK. ..never thought we would.
When we're fishing again, which we will be, which will be.
Early morning, late evening. That's it.
Will we be sailing early morning and late evening?
Shouldn't think so. THEY LAUGH
No, we will. Of course we will.
Our catch of the day, two magnificent spider crabs.
Mine's bigger than your...
No actually, I think yours is bigger than mine.
Now to find someone who knows how to remodel them into our dinner.
Mylor crab linguine. Yeah, right.
Hi.
Hello, gentleman. What have we got here?
A couple of really first class spider crabs.
How long is it going to take?
About 15, 20 minutes. Oh yes, excellent.
We'll have a drink while we're waiting, John. That'll do.
Thank you. Good stuff. We certainly will.
Well, another successful day. Absolutely.
Gentleman, your crab linguine here.
Thanks very much.
I think it tastes better because we caught it.
Does make a difference. It does, yeah.
We are harvesting the sea.
It's not just two greedy old men eating crab linguine.
It is just two greedy old men eating crab linguine.
It's two hunters.
Hunters. Hunter-gatherers.
Mm. Mm.
The following morning,
John and I prepare to take command of Bonaventure for the first time.
Today we're sailing to Plymouth,
and this is for me and for Michael, this is a big test.
The trickiest thing actually is leaving the dock.
This is the most dangerous bit.
Right, OK, what do you want me to do?
When I've got the engine on, and at my command...
Isn't the engine on? No, it's not. No, it isn't.
Oh, right. Yeah. At my command. Yeah.
At your command, yeah.
..I want you to release the bowline.
Be ready to release this line.
Yes. Again, at my command.
Yes. At the precise moment, optimum moment for us to leave the
dock without crashing into everybody else.
OK. That's fine.
The key thing with Michael is to make sure that he feels
he's in charge. So I'll do that.
We've become a couple in this boat.
I know how couples work, by games.
But I will not start doing this until I am told by you to do so.
Exactly so. All right. Excellent.
Perfect. We're in complete understanding.
What a team! Release the bow, please.
To ensure 22 tonnes of boat don't become a permanent feature of
Falmouth dock, our professional crew keep a watchful eye.
Slip the stern, please.
OK. Thank you.
Well done, John. Thank you very much. OK.
Can you tidy up the lines? OK.
I will, and I will now...
And bring in the fenders, please.
I will.
Michael takes to the role of captain all too easily.
Morning.
You're getting the sail out. No, no, no, John. No, no.
You are. No, no.
No, you're doing all that heaving.
No, no, but you could do it.
I couldn't. I haven't got the strength.
You're, you know, muscle. You're looking particularly...
Toned. Seriously, do you want me to...? I think you'd do better.
THEY LAUGH
Work a bit harder, please.
Put a bit more pressure on the rope.
Faster.
Was that OK? That's fine.
Not too worn out? No, no, it was brilliant.
We've done the main sail.
No, not we've done it.
I've done it. All right.
If you let that out a bit, and then we'll let the main out a bit.
That's pretty good.
OK, keep going.
No, keep going.
Go another ten degrees.
I know it's quite far out, but that's good anyway.
We're still heading directly into the wind.
Well, if anyone points and sniggers at us from other yachts...
We'll...
..I will give them an Anglo-Saxon sign and possibly
shout an Anglo-Saxon shout.
Let's flip the engine off.
OK.
OK, you press the button in.
I know, I know. OK.
Well done.
What do you think? I think it's terrific.
I think we've accomplished something rather good here. We have.
In a not very elegant but effective way.
Next stop, Plymouth.
Well, yes.
There might be some adventures.
THEY LAUGH
Michael and I are bound for Plymouth.
Tell me when you think it looks OK.
In command of our yacht, Bonaventure,
with no help from our professional crew.
This trip could take some time though.
These are amongst the calmest weather conditions recorded
this century.
So we're bringing out our big gun.
That is a spinnaker.
That gives us a bit of oomph, doesn't it?
It's such a big sail
that in light winds it can really
get the boat to fly along.
With her spinnaker powered up,
Bonaventure glides across the glassy seas,
and so John decides to treat us to some in-flight entertainment.
"Like a mirror sleeps the ocean,
"and the anxious steersman sees round him neither stir nor motion.
"Not a breath of wind is stirring.
"Dread the hush as of the grave.
"In the weary waste of waters, not the lifting of a wave."
It is moving, isn't it?
THEY LAUGH
When you've stopped reading poems, can you just take over the boat?
So that I can go and cook the captain his lunch.
OK, go on. Go on.
When you said the captain his lunch, was that my lunch?
I will leave that deliberately ambiguous.
I want...I want my lunch. All right. All right.
I'm making tagliatelle pasta.
We've got some rather nice sausages.
Everything under complete control.
How well is he going to do this?
He's got to do it well, not just any old, you know, sausages.
You need a certain amount of calm and determination
to cook a good sausage.
John's very fussy.
He'll be disappointed it's not lobster.
This takes skill.
Ooh!
Ow! Ah!
HE MUTTERS
How's it going, Michael?
Only another hour.
An hour? Do you know what time is it, Michael?
It's... It's quarter to two.
It's well within the lunch hour.
It isn't, actually. Quarter to two is a very late lunch.
Control yourself.
Any beer by any chance?
I could probably get you a glass of wine if you wanted.
Oh, if you could. That would be nice.
Let's just get the saus-ages out.
Bugger.
Ah! Ah, ah, ah!
Everything OK?
Um...
Yes, I think so.
Wasn't like this on MasterChef, I can tell you.
Not anything like as much pressure.
John. Oh, yeah.
Don't let anybody say I don't look after you.
Oh, how lovely.
Look at that.
OK, to hell with the steering.
THEY LAUGH
I know, but this is rather classy.
I do like the colour scheme.
It is good, isn't it? Mmm.
It's surprisingly good.
Mmm. Mmm.
Say it through gritted teeth.
This is rather good.
Am I the only one drinking wine? You are.
Michael's sausage surprise has been a triumph,
and I'm thinking he should resign as captain and become ship's cook.
But my thoughts are interrupted by some unexpected visitors.
Oh, look, a dolphin.
Oh, wow. A dolphin.
Oh, that's lovely.
It's been a great day's sail, actually.
36 miles.
We did it by ourselves, which was great.
It's one of those punch the air kind of days.
Approaching Plymouth, I stage the most polite mutiny in naval history.
Righto.
You're finished, I'm taking over.
THEY LAUGH
And bring us into the historic port,
past some of the grandest waterfront property this side of Venice.
Very good sailing, wasn't it?
It was great sailing and...
Well, that feeling of doing it ourselves.
OK, let's party.
Let's party. THEY LAUGH
Preposterous. That is prepo...
That's the silliest thing you've said in days.
Let's party. Did you hear that?
The next morning I'm pleased I ignored Michael's suggestion
that we stay up all night dancing at an illegal rave.
We're off to Salcombe today.
Should take us about four hours.
Although I think I prefer the bleary-eyed Captain Buerk
to the bright-eye and bushy-tailed variety.
Can we discuss the ropes?
We can, we can. I think that...
I think with the wind blowing this way,
that as soon as the bow's that way it's going to take us off anyway.
Then we'll release the bow.
No, then we'll put the slipping line on the bow and...
I think you can just release it, John.
Well, that's pretty casual. I mean, the great sailor...
You are casual. ..always is ready to...
I'm relying you to leap in an agile way.
Yeah, OK.
You OK, John? Yeah.
Neatly done.
Let's get going.
You can slip the stern, please.
I just don't need instructions and orders.
I just do it all just like that.
I just know what I'm doing at every point. All right.
OK, ready to slip, John?
No, not yet.
Not yet? I'm just... No, you only slip at one end.
Oh, right, OK. You've only got to slip it through.
You don't have to release the other side.
OK, we're released. OK. We off?
We're off.
We're off on another great adventure.
Only this adventure is better for the captain than for his crew.
Can you bring the fenders in?
He's a bit bossy,
whereas the great captain's just calmly indicating.
Now, for some reason, Michael hasn't grasped this.
Convinced it's only a matter of time before the brutal
Captain Buerk has me flogged, I decide to stage another mutiny.
I think we could do a bit of fishing.
The sun is not too high.
Do we have to, John? I mean, really. What, fishing?
Yes. Of course we do.
Otherwise we'll never catch a fish.
You never have caught a fish. I know.
That's the whole point. But that's...that's because we give up.
What's in there?
This is something you'd like from your time in the jungle.
Oh.
Now these are ragworms, and the fish just, they love it.
Look at it, trying to bend round to give me a...
But we're not asking you to eat it.
Look at it wriggling.
OK.
If I hold the hook.
That should go. Don't stab me. That'll be easier. No, I won't.
Look, it's got pincers rather than or is it...?
No, it's flesh-eating.
Argh! Ah!
I think we need to talk to it.
After John reads it some of his poetry,
the ragworm begs to be put out of its misery and thrown overboard.
How long do we have to do this?
At least half an hour. Oh.
You think of it... It's like instant coffee for you.
It isn't, you know.
This is fishing as a way of life. Hmm.
How do fisherman stay awake?
They dream about the future, about what they've caught,
what they're going to catch,
and how about how fishing's better than a lot of other things.
What exactly?
Well, it's better than sailing.
THEY LAUGH
John.
We should be sailing now.
A fisherman's time is different from ordinary time.
It certainly is. It's a...
A couple of minutes
It's an eternity.
Thank God, as captain, I have the power to bring eternity to an end.
Even the ragworms look bored.
Absolute bloody mystery.
OK, the waypoint's in.
It'll come up on that as to what your call should be.
Oh, good show.
And we'll be away.
There's something magical about this, John.
It's what...
This is what sailing's all about.
To be doing something which seems purposeful.
Well, it is purposeful. Yeah.
We are on a journey. We are.
To coin a phrase.
And also, I like the idea that people have been doing
this kind of thing for hundreds of years. Yeah.
That gives you a sort of sense that...
Of timelessness. Yes.
Cos this is proper sailing. Absolutely.
Unlike the fish, the wind hasn't eluded us today,
and we reach our destination
with plenty of time to make port, or so we think.
Salcombe Harbour, this is Bonaventure. Over.
Bonaventure, this is Salcombe Harbour. Please go ahead, sir.
Salcombe Harbour, we're looking for a berth.
Is there any chance of that? Over.
Negative. Salcombe Harbour has no overnight docking. Over.
Salcombe's stuffed,
and with hopes of an evening gin and tonic fading fast,
all seems lost.
We should have rung up.
We should have done.
We're up the creek, literally.
OK. Shall I have another go and ask them if they can...
if we can just moor for a bit.
It turns out shouting, "Have you any idea who I am?"
doesn't go down well in Devon.
We're forced to moor in the channel.
Salcombe's answer to Piccadilly Circus.
It's regarded as one of the prettiest towns
in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
Salcombe is a popular holiday destination,
particularly with sailing enthusiasts.
Which just might have something to do with this place.
Welcome. Hello. Thanks very much.
There's something about gin and tonic and sailors.
All those blokes with the double-breasted blue blazers
and the pink trousers and everything,
they've all got a gin and tonic in their hands.
Yeah, absolutely.
I think it's because gin is a very popular drink in the Navy.
Yeah. Indeed, you'll have heard of Navy-strength gin, which is 57%.
On the old Navy ships, they'd had these big casks of gin.
Mm. And the last thing you want is your cask to get broken
and then it to leak gin all over your gunpowder, such that your
gunpowder no longer ignites when you need it in your cannons.
At 57%, the minimum strength, that strength, the gunpowder will
still ignite even if it's been...
even if it's got gin all over it.
So that is why it's called navy-strength.
That's very useful. So, yeah Useful bit of information.
This is our 450 litre still here.
450 litres? That ought to keep us going for a while.
There's a friend of mine that says you have a gin and tonic
when you don't feel like a drink.
Gin's made by re-distilling spirit with botanicals.
The preordainment flavour must be juniper.
The other ingredients are left to the producer.
The basic process doesn't look too complicated.
I think...
I've got chemistry A level, you know.
If you wanted, you can come and have a go at making your own gin.
Oh, yeah. OK.
Did you have to say you've got a chemistry A level?
Well, I didn't say which grade though.
I've already charged the still,
so now it's just a question of choosing our botanicals,
putting it in a still, and then setting it off.
He would like some raspberry.
Yeah. Raspberry as well? OK.
Cos raspberries are funny. So, if...
When you say raspberry it makes people smile.
There's no gunpowder onboard Bonaventure,
so we can afford to water our raspberry gin down.
So, if this turns out to be unique and impressive,
we want half the profits. That's...
That's all we're saying.
But, of course, it would irresponsible of us
to start distributing our premium gin to the nation's off-licences.
Well, until it's been exhaustively tested.
Oh, it's a lark, isn't it?
It is a lark. What a lark.
It's the best raspberry gin I've ever had before.
Or made. Or made.
THEY LAUGH
Cheers.
For the first time since we began this sailing adventure,
Michael and I have been given command
of our 50-foot yacht, Bonaventure.
In historically calm conditions, we're sailing her east
along the South Devon Coast,
and today's destination is Dartmouth.
Lovely boat.
Thank you.
Which do you think is the faster boat?
I reckon we can be faster than you.
You reckon you can be faster than us?
But we're very... We look good though, don't we?
You're looking good, yeah.
And you look like a block of flats, so surely we're faster.
What about a race?
Oh, John, come along. Oh, do you fancy a race?
To Dartmouth?
Yeah. Yeah.
A bottle of gin for the winner.
Done.
I'm not going to wish you good luck because we're determined to win.
THEY ALL LAUGH
Who dares gins.
With the bottle we distilled ourselves on the line...
Are you chaps ready for this little duel? Over.
..failure is not an option.
Five, four, three, two, one.
KLAXON BLOWS
Come on, John.
Well done.
What do you think?
Leave it out a bit? Let it out a bit?
There's so little wind.
At this speed, we'll get there by about Christmas.
Well, we are in the lead in the world's slowest yacht race.
Well, it's the first backwards yacht race that I've ever seen.
But we're going backwards slower than they are.
I know. Which means we're... We're ahead.
With the race poised on an incredibly dull knife-edge,
a new strategy springs to mind.
Ben Ainslie wouldn't approve, but it will do for us.
Whoever is ahead when the race is called off is the victor.
That... Oh, that's true. Yes.
So we call off the race.
And who was in front?
Yes.
Hello, Venetia, this is Bonaventure.
Over.
Poor devils.
They're so humiliated they're not answering the radio.
Well, I think so...
OVER RADIO: Venetia. Go ahead. Over.
Oh, hello, Venetia.
We were discussing whether or not...
I don't know whether you know about the international racing rules,
which show that if the race is called off,
the winner is whichever yacht is in front at that time.
Do you agree with that?
That's a negative. Over.
We've consulted volumes of legal documents and we're convinced that
that is the rule. Over.
The Venetia. We're discussing about the gin.
Righto, Venetia, this is Bonaventure.
If you declare us the winners, we will give you a bottle of gin.
How about that? Over.
Bonaventure, Venetia. All accepted. Over.
There we are. What do you think?
The winners! We are the winners.
We declare ourselves the winners.
Yay!
And so it is that by shamelessly bribing our opponents...
I was proud of this bottle of gin.
..Michael and I are able to claim victory,
in what has been the most pathetic race in yachting history.
We did our best.
I award you second place. Thank you very much.
Never been happier to lose.
THEY LAUGH
Thank you very much.
Right, Michael, well done.
And now Dartmouth.
Dartmouth.
By the, I'm afraid, by motor.
But we will at least get there. We will.
We round Start Point,
one of the most exposed peninsulas on the British coast.
With an 180-year-old lighthouse.
Before heading north-west along Start Bay
towards the River Dart Estuary.
No, keep pulling.
It's turning.
Along the way, the wind finally gets its act together.
We can now see it. At least she's out.
I think we can put the engine off. Yeah.
And at last we're able to stretch Bonaventure's sea legs.
Switch off, shall we?
BEEPING
There we go.
That looks about right, doesn't it? Yeah, that's about right. Yeah.
Beautiful, isn't it? Mm.
Isn't Devon gorgeous?
Cornwall's a bit more rugged, isn't it? Yes.
The rolling hills of Devon.
Yeah.
Well, that's what we call an involuntary gybe, isn't it?
Yes, it is. And shouldn't we then... Let's gybe back.
Hang on. Yeah, I just want... Or we could gybe back, yeah.
That's it. That's it. Other way. No problem.
Other way.
No, it isn't. Oh, you're... Oh, right, OK.
It is the other way.
Actually, it is. You're right. Now you see.
Being dead sneery. You didn't trust me.
I didn't. Instinctive.
I know. There we are.
The breeze is now behind us,
but rather than sailing straight down wind...
The problem here is that there's a sandbank offshore.
Yeah. We need to gybe. OK.
We'll move much faster if we gybe.
Turning the stern through the wind and sailing a zigzag course.
But gybing can be a violent manoeuvre.
Could you tell when you're ready to gybe? Yeah, I will.
Keep your head down. Keep your head down. OK.
Gybe ho.
Right. Yeah.
Lift this up. There we go.
Oops. Wow.
Was a bit dramatic. Yeah, a bit dramatic.
She's going well now. She is.
And gybe ho.
How does that look?
I think that's...that's OK. OK.
It's interesting. We've just done a short manoeuvre.
Yeah. But a lot of concentration required. Yeah.
And that's... That is the fun of sailing.
Yeah, something simple, but what does it matter?
We're just doing it by the wind.
Mm. Profound again.
I know, deep. I know.
You'll miss me, you know. I know. I know, I know.
We'll miss Bonaventure too.
True she's caused us some headaches,
but now we're finding that even the thought of absence
can make the heart grow fonder.
You get to love boats, and I'm certainly developing a considerable
affection for Bonaventure and I shall be sad to say goodbye to her.
OK? We're going to gybe.
It's a difficult boat to sail, but I very much enjoyed being a bit
more active, and also I've rather enjoyed Michael being the captain.
Ready to go about? Yeah.
He's just charming and he's good fun, and he puts up with me.
That's what I like.
Very good, John. There we are.
We were colleagues and...and distant friends,
but now mates, I suppose.
I thought we could celebrate tonight.
Well, we ought to.
What about me cooking you a meal?
A signature dish? Sort of, yes.
No, it's good. And it's something from me to you.
It's sort of a little present. Aww.
You might reciprocate. Well, we'll... I'll provide the wine.
Oh, that would be nice. What do you think?
Something white and something dry,
and something full and something red. Yeah.
Oh, that's very good. What do you think?
Did you learn that at school? THEY LAUGH
No, but what I did learn in school is that tonight's destination,
Dartmouth, is home to the Royal Naval College,
where Navy officers are trained.
Hi ho.
What a wonderful place to arrive at. Yeah.
Isn't it glorious? Yes.
So pretty.
It's very, very pretty indeed.
Dartmouth was also the birthplace of Thomas Newcomen,
inventor of the first steam-powered pumping engine.
Call it coincidence,
but I know someone else who's really good at generating hot air.
What a pretty place.
Dartmouth is just one of the absolute jewels of the West Country.
And people who don't holiday in England, well, they're mad.
We're in Dartmouth, spending one last night aboard our trusty yacht
before our final day's sailing tomorrow.
We've got supplies. Good God.
Is this all for one meal? It... Get on. You'll love it.
Reassuringly heavy, John.
Oh, yeah.
We've proved that we can sail Bonaventure on our own,
so to celebrate that momentous achievement,
John's treating me to one of his signature dishes.
Yeah. So, this is a dish I learnt from one of my student friends.
A very nice girl called Pru. Mm.
And she cooked this for us in her bedsitter. Really? Really?
And I was incredibly impressed,
and I thought, "If only I could cook that,
"it would be the way to everything."
A way to... A way to what? ..relationships. Relationships.
Was Pru very special to you or?
Oh, she was, but she was unfortunately tied up with
somebody I thought inappropriate, but anyway...
Inappropriate in as much as he wasn't you? Yes.
But she was lovely.
What happened to her? Do you know?
Well, yes, I'm afraid, you know,
she's gone to that heaven in the sky.
Oh, really? Yes.
Sadly.
But her chicken...
Her chicken lives on. It lives on.
For you, right.
Special. Right.
Pepper and salt, that kind of stuff? I think so.
Or are you kind of chef who objects to... No, no, I don't.
It means that I've left it at your discretion.
Well? Do you know, it's really nice.
LAUGHING: You see?
There we are.
Very simple to do.
Mmm.
Mmm. Thank you, John.
Thank you. Thank you for the meal.
Yeah. Thank you for your companionship.
Well... On this delightful voyage. Thank you.
No, we've done it, and this is a little celebration.
I'm kind of a shy person and...
I've noticed this.
I find that when you can't say anything,
you...you give something.
You just make a gesture.
And that's what this little repast is.
It's a gesture, just for friendship.
Mmm.
Now, we've got one thing that we've not done, and that is there.
I think we need to get real, John. No, it's unfinished business.
We need to get real.
We're going to do it.
It won't work.
We will succeed. This time we will succeed.
I want you to wake up in the morning and think,
"Hello, morning, this is fish morning." All right?
This, apparently, is fish morning.
I couldn't actually give a toss about fishing. Really?
But I hate the idea of failure.
Right, OK. Good. This is our last chance.
Yes. Just beyond here, there's several coves.
Yeah. There's one there, Dead Man's Cove. That sounds like us.
That's got the right spirit of optimism about it... It does, yeah.
..for a fishing expedition. Yes. It should be Dead Fish Cove, but there we are.
Anchors aweigh.
Armed to the teeth, John.
Choose your weapon.
Oh, I'll have this one, I think. That's known as the Big Beast.
The Beast? Are you going to be casting that, John?
I am. I'm going to cast.
Well, I'm going to be out of your way.
THEY LAUGH
Nearly fell in.
I've never had such bad luck fishing except with you.
They used to call me Mr Lucky when it came to fishing.
But oh, no.
No Mr Lucky today. No.
THEME FROM JAWS PLAYS
HE LAUGHS
What?
You've got one? At last.
MICHAEL CONTINUES LAUGHING
Jolly good. Now don't let go. Now what do I do?
Yes, jolly good. That's it.
Oh, sea bass. Right.
Oh, gosh, OK.
Realising that we're probably not going to need a bigger boat,
we decide to give Michael's tiddler the gift of life
and return it to the waters of Dead Man's Cove.
It's a bit small. Let him go.
I've got him, I've got him. He's a bit small.
He's too small? He's too small.
Ooh!
Oh. The one that got away, but we wanted it to go away.
We did.
That's wonderful.
Well done. That was really quite thrilling.
We've delivered.
I'm so pleased.
It's...it's a bit like gambling, isn't it?
If you get one,
you're hooked, in every possible sense.
With the sweet fishy smell of success in our nostrils
and reports of a good wind on its way,
we set out for one final sail together.
I'll take that. Thank you.
This will be a short jaunt around Berry Head to Brixham,
part of the English Riviera.
That's a nice boat.
Where? Just ahead.
Oh, yeah, yeah. They look very picturesque, don't they?
Mm. Out of the mist. It's just fantastic.
What our lookout spotted is a 19th century Brixham trawler.
They're known for their distinctive red sails.
A 400-strong fleet of them once operated here.
Ahoy there.
Ahoy!
Where are you heading?
We're heading back to Brixham.
Oh, we're going there too.
Lovely boat.
Brilliant.
You're not bad-looking yourself.
THEY ALL LAUGH
Bye.
Cheers.
See you in Brixham.
It is terrific, isn't it?
It's amazing how often the very practical looks beautiful.
I think we'll gybe now, John.
Since we left Falmouth four days ago,
we've sailed Bonaventure without any help from our two professional crew.
I don't think we've got anything left to prove.
Mungo, Stella, we're going to gybe.
All hands on deck.
Reunited at last, and to be honest, I'm glad of the help.
Captain Buerk is a bit of a slave driver.
A very nice one, of course.
Centre up the...the main sail.
Last gybe of the trip.
Make it beautiful. Yes.
Let's put the helm over.
Here we go.
Gybe release.
Gybe ho!
I think it's almost as fast as we've ever been.
I think it is.
We're doing really well. Yeah.
This is right.
This is better than expected. Yeah.
This really is rather a brilliant sail.
Shall I have a go on the helm while we're doing this doing?
If you'd like to, yes. Why not?
OK, you've got it? Yeah.
OK.
She's yours.
Gosh. It's hard, isn't it?
I see why you were smiling when you said, "OK, hand her over."
Yeah. When you said, "Hand her over," yeah, yeah, yeah.
It's quite a lot... It is long.
Luckily, I'm incredibly strong. Well...
But I imagine a weak person would find that it's very difficult. Yeah.
We are steaming along.
How fast are we going? Seven knots.
One of the best bits of sailing we've done. Yeah.
And it's right at the end.
So, what was our shanty? Oh, Johnny.
BOTH: # Leave her, Johnny, leave her. #
THEY LAUGH
Well, you've got to get the West Country.
WITH EXAGGERATED ACCENT: # Leave her, Johnny, leave her. #
Err. Oh. Oh.
THEY LAUGH
We need to avoid this motorboat that's charging towards us.
No, it isn't, it's a yacht.
No, it's a yacht and it's going away from us.
That's worrying, isn't it?
This is terrible, John.
Now, you've seen the rocks, have you, John? Seen the rock?
This would be... My God...
This would be quite a climax. I have seen the rock, yeah.
Oh, good, good.
Yeah, do you want me to wear away a bit? Wear away a bit.
OK. What about that?
I think that's perfect.
It's rather a sad moment, but a glorious moment too.
It's been great. Absolutely great.
It is a bit sad,
but there are exciting things on land too, you know.
Congratulations. Well done, Mungo. Well done. Well done, Mungo.
Well done, Stella. Well done, Mungo. Very grateful. Aww. Thank you.
Oh. I'd forgotten you. Oh, yeah.
Well done.
The four weeks with John have worked surprisingly well.
And we are now shipmates
for now and forever.
There she goes.
Good boat.
Good trip. Very good trip.
I think this week we stopped being just crew on the boat
and took control of it,
which is where you get the fear and where you get the satisfaction.
I feel a little bit sad, but also pleased that
the gruelling four weeks, a test really,
has been passed.
We've renewed a friendship which went back 30 years,
and that's always exciting.
You think, "Can we do it?
"Can we go back to when we were young?"
Shipmate.
Mate.
The sailing, the companionship...
HE LAUGHS
..the whole experience
has been absolutely brilliant.
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