BBC - Coast Series 8 (2013) Part 6 All at Sea
Coast Series 8
Coast, continues to explore the edge of our lives, the coastline that marries us to the sea. Through a history of assault from Nazi Germany, freshwater voles and the infamous Guernsey Privateers; the workers’ coast of shipbuilders, fishermen and seaside entertainers; the joys of sunbathing and the history of Thomas Cook; the magnificent estuaries of the Firth of Forth, the Severn and the Thames; this is the history of Britain as told from cliff to sea. Nick Crane is joined by a team of expert presenters including Neil Oliver, Miranda Krestovnikoff, Mark Horton, Tessa Dunlop, Andy Torbet, Ian McMillan, Ruth Goodman, Nick Hewitt and newcomers Sarah Beynon and Cassie Newland as they explore the riches to be found along our Coast.
Part 6: All at Sea
The Coast team are all at sea, as they head offshore to explore surprising stories of love and death, cannibalism and communist submarines, seasickness and a seafaring prince. Nick Crane attempts one of the world's most fearsome yachting challenges, the Isle of Wight 'Round the Island Race'. Novice sailor Nick is plunged in at the deep end of the competition and his boat suffers near capsize in a gruelling test of his seamanship. Will Nick even manage to finish, as 1,500 boats battle to avoid wrecks, reefs and rip tides? To complete his circumnavigation of the Isle, Nick must learn how a sailing boat can achieve the seemingly impossible and make progress against the oncoming wind. Naval historian Nick Hewitt searches out the remarkable remains of the submarines that threatened to sink Britain by strangling its sea trade. Why does a First World War German U-boat, its hull astonishingly intact, lie hidden in the mud of the Medway estuary, so close to London? And what is the story behind the Soviet sub which Nick discovers nearby? Its hull reveals what life was like for Russian submariners, preparing for the day when Britain's Cold War would turn hot.