Plymouth Sea Cities

Around the coast of Britain are cities

where lives are shaped by the sea.

Whoa! Whoa! Turbot. Nice turbot.

Yeah, lovely job.

Each city is a gateway to the wider world...

SHIP'S HORN HONKS ..and around each city

thousands of people work in jobs that touch all of our lives.

Whether it's shipping cars...

We're just short of £29 million worth by the end the day.

..or importing fruit.

What I love about bananas is they don't answer back.

Jobs that keep the nation afloat...

This is the tricky bit. This is where the skill comes in.

..where every day brings fresh challenges.

Fire, fire, fire!

These are cities that welcome the navy -

both serving sailors and new recruits.

Ladies and gents, let's work hard.

From clocking on in the morning...

Should see me flying a kite, mate. I'm brilliant.

..to relaxing after work.

It's all part of the warm-up.

..around the shores and rivers of people's home towns...

Together!

..water is a way of life. SCREAMING

On the southwest coast of England,

Plymouth is a home for navy ships and for training.

-OVER LOUDSPEAKER:

-'Hands to Action Stations. Assume...'

Aircraft. Tracking left to right.

-OVER RADIO:

-'I've got visual.'

Ships' companies are put to the test before joining the fleet...

When the gloves come off, it becomes open season.

We're take some damage.

..and Plymouth Sound holds hidden treasures.

It's like finding a needle in a haystack.

Along its ten miles of seafront,

fishermen, sailors, scientists, boat builders and water lovers

all make the most of what Plymouth has to offer.

As the largest port in the southwest of England,

it's a hub of maritime activity,

and during the summer the water teems with life.

Ben Squire is one of the busiest men in town.

Careful, guys. Careful.

Not only is he a commercial fisherman...

Nice bit of cash on that one there.

..he also operates four passenger boats...

I love this beautiful place.

..two sport angling boats and he runs a cafe...

Going to be busy, aren't we?

..so keeping everything going is a real challenge.

How's it going? All right?

We had a big winter refit, you know, just gone,

and as these refits always cost more than what you originally plan,

so we've gone a little bit close to the line.

I'm feeling a little bit...well,

quite a lot under pressure, actually.

It's not all beer and skittles, is it?

But a good summer will go a long way to helping Ben

keep his businesses afloat.

Not a lot of money in the bank,

but...so we need to get rolling, you know.

Mind the little step there. OK.

Getting people to take a trip on one of his boats is key,

and Ben hopes he's found the perfect salesman.

We've got a new sales and promotions employee starting today, Lee.

He's from South London.

-How you doing, Lee?

-Yeah, good, thanks.

-All right?

-Yeah.

Going to quickly get on top,

get him revved up and set him to work.

-It's his first day as our sales and promotional man.

-Get on it.

Key role for the business.

Boats are operating to the timetable pretty much a static cost,

you know, with crew, diesel, with the boat doing its cruise,

so it's our job really to fill the seats.

At their pitch on the busy Barbican,

Ben shows Lee how it's done.

It's not a job for the faint-hearted.

Right this way for the boat trips, folks.

Sailing at 11 o'clock today, folks.

The next one-hour harbour cruise.

I remember the first time I had to do it.

It is nerve-racking, and you're thinking,

"What am I doing shouting on a street to nobody?" you know,

but it then becomes sort of comfortable and than enjoyable.

Next, it's Lee's turn, and he has a bit of a shaky start.

One-hour harbour cruise. Come and check it out for us.

BEN LAUGHS

On today, the most beautiful of Mondays.

The weather is nice.

I'd go if I was you. Come on.

Ladies and gentlemen, one-hour harbour cruise

sailing at 11 o'clock on the Plymouth Sound.

-Lee.

-Yes?

-Keep to the spiel for a minute, all right?

-Yeah.

Professional, all right? Keep to the spiel.

I'm going to leave this to you now just to settle in,

find your feet, OK?

-On your own.

-All right, sound.

-All right?

-Yeah, yeah.

Good man. OK. See you in a bit. Cheers, Lee.

Sailing soon, guys.

One-hour harbour cruise sailing out at 12.30.

That's all right.

Catch the next one.

Left to his own devices,

will Lee be the top salesman that Ben's hoping for?

Enjoy. Have a lovely day.

Sound.

At 650 acres,

Plymouth has the largest naval base in Western Europe.

With four miles of waterfront,

Devonport dockyard dominates the west of the city.

The Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland

has just come out of a multimillion pound refit.

..shaft, continue using runner, please.

Her new ship's company now have to prove they're ready

to rejoin the navy's fleet by passing a series

of gruelling tests.

Roger, bow anchor. Copy. All ready to go.

Second-in-command Pete Brotton is relishing the challenge.

Roger, mate. Bow anchor closed and ready for letting go.

In a masochistic way, I enjoy it.

It's what I was trained to do,

it's what I've been in the navy to do, and it's just great fun.

We're actually doing the job that we're trained for.

Checking Sutherland is ready to return to the fleet

is the job of examiners from the Royal Navy's

Flag Officer Sea Training department, known as FOST.

I do try to put them at ease if I can.

Chief Petty Officer Kev Hewson is one of the examiners

they'll have to impress.

Been in the navy 37 years, OK,

so I've done what you're doing now many times.

I often think back to when I was a young recruit.

You come on board a warship, which is a daunting prospect.

You've been taught the basics but you don't really know how they work,

and it's things like this FOST training

that enables the young recruits and those with a bit more seniority

to be able to work together and gel as a team.

What do we understand by the brace then?

Kev's testing their ability to cope with floods and fire.

Cos really the best life raft that we've got

is this big grey one that we're in.

Chef Patrick Dykes is making sure everyone's well fed

before the tests begin.

Lunch today is chicken goujon wraps or turkey and lemon wraps

with a tossed salad.

Like everyone on board, Chef Dykes has another job.

He's also a first aider,

and today's the first time his life-saving skills

will be examined.

It's slightly nerve-racking

cos obviously you don't know what to expect.

That fear of the unknown and that pressure that you get is good,

so you just crack on and get on with it.

Up on the bridge, the ship's under air attack.

ALARM BUZZES

Now the fun commences.

-OVER LOUDSPEAKER:

-'Hands to action stations. Hands to action stations.

'Assume damage control state 1. Position Zulu.'

They're trying to spot the aircraft

so that the ship's defences can be deployed,

but low cloud is making it tricky.

The weather has kindly helped the FOST staff out

by making sure the visibility is not that good

in the first place for them.

-OVER RADIO:

-'I've got visual. 9390.'

Tracking left to right.

Resolution for...

Commercial jets are playing the role of enemy aircraft.

-OVER RADIO:

-'Your position, 5009 out north. 0025 out west.'

The MEU is starting her transit around the coat hanger route.

The team make a strong start and manage to pick the jets out

in the grey sky.

Aircraft, red. 100. Tracking left to right.

Fire, fire, fire!

HE SHOUTS INSTRUCTIONS

Down below, Kev Hewson's putting the firefighters under pressure.

Make sure you've got all the kinks out of the hoses.

That's it. Using your feet, kick them all out.

They've got their basic drills. Making silly errors.

Obviously still need quite a bit of coaching

and mentoring to get their drills instinctive.

See how difficult it is when the ship is rolling around?

With heavy seas causing problems for the firefighters,

at the other end of the ship the medics are called into action.

Casualty, casualty, casualty! Casualty in the mess.

Chef Dykes and medical assistant Michael Shearer are on the scene.

One of their friends is playing the casualty.

Carl, Carl! Talk to me! Carl!

Argh!

Examiner Chief Petty Officer Lee Morrison is impressed,

even if they have been a little untidy.

Just tell me if you feel any pain anywhere else.

No, that's all right. Just my leg, mate.

-Just your leg. Fine.

-Argh!

We're playing at being at state 1, and that kit is all over the place.

They need to take charge of their kit,

make sure it's stowed away at all times.

Otherwise that can create a potential problem later on.

But first aid-wise, they're tiptop. They are all over it.

No further injuries throughout any part of his body.

His breathing is equal.

The first day of testing is over for Chef Dykes.

You don't enjoy it and you don't react right way,

you don't take anything in from it at all.

Up on the bridge, they've spotted all the jets

and evaded all the simulated missile strikes.

-OVER RADIO:

-'Stand to. Stand to.'

We've coped with it all. There's been no damage to the ship this

time. I don't think we'll be so lucky in future times,

otherwise the FOST won't get all the training out of us,

but we are week one at sea, so they will happen later.

With five weeks to go,

the tests are going to get harder for HMS Sutherland.

On the Barbican,

Lee's getting the hang of persuading people

to join Ben's boat trips.

But they have a leaflet in there?

Yeah, I've got a leaflet for you right here. Sorry. My bad.

But he's not the only new employee.

All aboard, Finlay.

Skipper Finlay Campbell has come all the way from Scotland

to join Ben's staff.

It's a very simple boat, Finlay, really. It's...

How many passengers does it take?

This Weston Maid, she's licensed for...

-SHIP HORN HONKS

-..63...

-63.

-..and the two crew.

And this is your regular ferry service.

-This is... Yeah. Regular ferry.

-Seven days a week?

Seven days a week.

Ben's hoping Finlay will skipper on the Cawsand Ferry.

It's one of his most popular routes.

It's a lovely little run, you know. Half an hour.

Generally, people are off to have a good time,

-aren't they, Jim, you know?

-Yeah, yeah.

There we are. We can see the beach.

White sand, cold beer.

HE LAUGHS

But before he can take charge, Finlay needs to learn the ropes.

There's bit of a rocky outcrop there.

There's rocks on the left.

-Ah, yeah.

-See where they come out there?

-Yeah.

Look at that.

Welcome to the Caribbean, everyone.

We're just going to gently just nudge her on there.

There we are.

It's a favourite of mine, this one.

I love this beautiful place, and a lovely trip as well.

Everyone's having a good time

and looking forward to a good day out on the beach and, you know,

frolicking in the sunshine.

All right, bud. Welcome aboard.

Finlay's last job was very different -

working on dive boats in Scotland.

Everyone I've met with Plymouth Boat Trips

seems really nice and friendly.

Yeah, I like it.

I'm positive with Finlay.

I like him.

Good background and I think he's going to be very good.

Thanks very much, folks. See you a bit later on.

If Finlay does well,

having an experienced skipper will be a big boost

for Ben's boating operation.

Based at the southern end of Devonport dockyard,

Princess Yachts deal in a very different kind of vessel.

The company builds 260 motor yachts every year.

Just got to go down onto a 35 metre.

We've got trouble with one of the rams on the garage door.

Gerry Lapthorne works on everything,

from 40ft boats up to 130ft super yachts.

So, this is the play pen. Boys' toys.

RIB, jet skis sit there.

Skis, scuba diving gear - this is where it's all kept.

This is the beach club.

But at the moment, Gerry's got a much older boat on his hands.

How much more mat are we putting around there?

-It's done.

-That's all done, completely done?

Cos we want to put a locker in there,

obviously we've got to cut that out.

To celebrate their 50th birthday,

the company's restoring one of the first boats they made.

To us, it's not a mess because you can see beyond that.

The restoration is bringing back lots of memories

for project boss, Gerry.

I actually started in 1976 building this type of vessel.

I can relate to how this boat was built. I don't know.

Perhaps I just fell in love with her, you know,

and I knew this was a good boat to do.

This is the original timber

which we've made new,

so this will be going around the boat.

The plan is to show the boat off at the Cannes Yachting Festival

in three months, but there's a lot to do,

so Gerry needs all the help he can get.

Can we sideshift?

We've got some really good, skilled people in the company.

We've got some of the old guys -

the old managers, the old people that used to work on these boats

back in the '60s.

They've all been back in.

It's really good. Really good.

Every week, thousands of passengers take the ferry from Plymouth

across the Channel to France or Spain.

It's Karen White's job to make sure everyone boards without a hitch,

but she doesn't have long to do it.

It's busy.

-There's almost 1,000...

-PHONE RINGS

..passengers on board.

The big thing is to get it all done in 90 minutes -

to get everybody off, clean the ship and then get everyone back on again.

Excuse me.

Good morning. Brittany Ferries.

Before today's sailing arrives,

Karen's checking all the supplies are in order.

Most of the foodstuff is provided from France,

but there are certain things that you can't get in France

that our passengers like,

such as baked beans and various other things

that you'll see shortly.

It'll be a week before the ferry gets resupplied,

so there needs to be enough food and drink to make sure

the passengers and crew don't go hungry.

It's quite an impressive operation

when you stand back and look at it as a whole.

There's lots of different things going on,

lots of equipment needed to move unaccompanied freight

and, you know, move the storage containers.

All the cleaners going on board.

A lot of things that passengers don't realise

have to happen in a ship's turnaround.

At just after one o'clock, Karen gets an update from the ship.

They're 20 minutes away.

MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY OVER WALKIE-TALKIE

Bonjour, Armorique.

MAN SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY OVER WALKIE-TALKIE

Merci.

With the ferry safely alongside,

Karen's first job is to go on board and check in with the crew.

-OVER WALKIE-TALKIE:

-'Karen, you can go on the starboard side.'

Thank you.

They've just cleared a gap for me to go on board now.

Karen's been at Brittany Ferries for 24 years

and she's picked up a few French habits.

Give me a kiss.

-Bonjour, Marielle.

-Bonjour, Karen.

It does have a family feel about it.

Everybody is on first-name terms. Everybody helps each other.

-You know the cleaners are not yet...?

-No.

Because there're seven...late.

We have a lot of cabins.

-The cleaners are running late.

-OVER RADIO:

-'Roger.'

Karen thinks they could have been held up by a delay

getting passengers off the ship.

They're just crossing.

Why they don't...?

-I'll make the call and ask why.

-Ah, oui?

I'll find out.

You're a star. A star, eh?

Not long after, the cleaners arrive,

but that one small delay could mean the ship

doesn't get out on time.

Obviously, with a ship only being here for 90 minutes,

we want the cleaners on as soon as possible

to get everything cleaned and ready

for passengers who are coming on board,

and just that five minutes late can make quite a difference to us.

Delays can frustrate passengers,

so Karen's off to check loading is going to plan.

Yeah, I know we've still got cars in the lanes

but as soon as we can could we get the coaches around, please?

-OVER RADIO:

-'Will do.'

Fitting in 200 cars, 17 caravans, three coaches and ten lorries

is a delicate balancing act.

Hello, Anne.

Can you send the passengers at quarter past two, please?

Thank you.

-OVER RADIO:

-'Do you want some more caravans now?'

-OVER RADIO:

-'Yes, go ahead.'

I like the busy ones,

the adrenaline rush of having to get it out on time.

You do feel more of a sense of achievement when it goes.

Bicycle or motorbike?

Yeah, he's going to take the bicycles. Just a sec.

With 20 minutes to go,

there are still some passengers missing.

So, the latest check-in time for this ferry was 2.15 today

and we still have seven passenger vehicles

that haven't arrived.

Hello, car lanes.

Can you let me know if anything arrives now, please?

As the final cars board, Karen shuts up shop.

Hi, Anne. If anybody arrives now, they're too late I'm afraid.

We've closed the check-in.

It's 13 minutes late,

but the ship's ready to set off for France.

SHIP'S HORN BLARES

Yeah, I am a bit tired now.

You're not when you're doing it,

but at the end of it you sort of realise

"Ooh, yeah, I've done a bit of walking around now."

But for me, I'm out here looking at the sea and the sun,

and it's better than sitting at a desk all day.

Whenever he gets a chance,

local entrepreneur Ben Squire returns to his first love - fishing.

Wagons roll!

Today, he's out targeting monkfish, turbot and spider crab,

and on board, it's a family affair.

Ole!

We've also got my dad here.

-Sea Dog, as we call him.

-HE LAUGHS

75, he is.

Yeah, he loves coming out even at 75.

My mother gives me hell cos he can be a bit tricky,

but, yeah, he still thinks he's 21.

This one will probably be monk and ray.

That's what we're looking for,

and I guess because the crabs are moving

we're going to get a shed-load of those.

Keep him going. Keep him going.

There's plenty of crab around but the real money lies elsewhere.

Keep him going.

Whoa! Whoa! Turbot! Nice turbot. Nice turbot. Easy does it.

Go on. Go on. We got him. Go on. Go on. Keep him coming. Get him in.

Yeah, lovely job! Beautiful.

Nice bit of cash on that one there. They're quite high-valued fish.

They always sell well in the market, you know, so they fill the till.

Aye-aye!

We'll get him out in a minute, but he's lovely quality.

Herbert the turbot, that's what we're after.

But it's not all plain sailing.

There's another reason Ben's on the water.

He's looking for his missing crab pots.

Boat was in refit for quite a while - about five weeks -

and we've come back out and half of the crab gear ends,

the markers -

in fact two thirds - are gone.

I need 40 fathom of rope, all right?

There should be ends ready to go. There could be one...

There's lots of shipping activity in the area

and Ben suspects the ends of his crab pots

have been accidentally cut by another vessel,

leaving £8,000 worth of equipment lying unmarked on the seabed.

If we don't find anything, well, I don't know what we're going to do.

The shellfish operation,

the crabbing operation is in trouble.

We're going to have to...

I don't know what we're going to do. I don't know.

-We've got

-BLEEP

-pots, boys.

Right.

Have I got an end ready with a can on?

To try and snag the missing crab pots,

they're trailing a big hook along the sea floor.

Age-old tangle gear, guys.

I'm going to have to send that back down, all right?

BLEEP.

We're having what can only loosely be described as a struggle.

Yeah. We're up against it for a minute.

We're up against it.

But we're not beaten.

We are not beaten. We will carry on.

After an hour of trawling, there's still no sign,

but just as they're about to call it a day,

there's something on the end of the line.

Yes, there is. There's weight on board.

Come on!

-Got me an end.

-Possible, Ben? Is it possible?

There's a bit of weight on there.

There's definitely a bit of weight on it.

False alarm.

False alarm.

That's the end of that. Day over.

The missing crab pots are a setback.

Ben's other businesses will need to make up the shortfall.

It's early morning at the naval base.

HMS Sutherland's sailors are preparing to show

they're ready to return to the fleet after a refit.

Today they face an examination of how well they respond

to a natural disaster.

That is the roadway fire lit.

On shore at the northern end of the dockyard,

examiner Kev Hewson is creating his own personal disaster zone.

The building behind me is what we call the labyrinth,

so the scenario today, it's the doctor's surgery.

As you can see, we're smoking it out right now

ready for them to arrive.

Whoever you've got on the ground here at half past,

fill your boots, use them.

Lieutenant Commander John Barry has organised today's test.

As soon as ship arrives,

they are confronted with a scene of devastation -

smoke, floods, fires -

so it's a key decision as to how many people arrive at the site

and who they are, what they're able to do.

The emergency services and volunteers

have been brought in to make it as realistic as possible.

On board Sutherland, they're getting ready to go.

It's part of why you sign up.

You sign up obviously to get thrown into the deeper ends,

to see how you survive under pressure.

Chef Patrick Dykes is in one of the first teams to leave.

I am nervous. I'll admit that.

Right, careful of all of this debris and sewage.

Sir, can you hear me?

Casualty, casualty! Casualty in the car!

Second-in-command Pete Brotton's role is to co-ordinate

HMS Sutherland's response alongside the emergency services.

Situation as it stands is

we believe that there's somebody trapped

by a boat that they were working on at the time of the tremor,

and the boat has been too heavy

for anybody to be able to affect a rescue.

The reconnaissance teams are coming through.

We'll have the initial first aid teams.

They are en route from the ship as we speak.

Chef Dykes is sent to the trapped casualty.

-Jos.

-Yeah?

I'm going to need you to get the doc to come to me

as soon as possible once he's landed.

Roger.

His airways are noisy.

I need oxygen as quickly as possible.

He needs to keep his patient stable

until heavy lifting equipment arrives from the ship.

20 minutes trapped. Obviously, I don't want to move him now

because that would cause serious injuries

then if the blood flow starts to go in there

and there are open wounds.

Find a safe place out of the way.

Elsewhere, the ship's company make good progress

and carry out a number of successful rescues.

Keep going. Keep going. Keep going. Right. Come on.

Get here please, Adam. Just grab behind him.

But at the far end of the site,

Kev Hewson's still waiting for them to come

and find the town's doctor.

They need to get a search team up here

so they can get into the surgery and have a look,

see if they can locate him.

He is in there and he's not very well.

Back at Princess Yachts,

Gerry Lapthorn is also feeling the heat.

Going to let them get on with it here.

He's got less than a month to finish restoring

one of the firm's original boats.

There's a lot of pressure.

It's the sort of thing that it goes on and on

and then all of a sudden you think,

"God, we've got three weeks left," you know, so...

But it'll all come together. We'll get there.

The boat needs to go to Cannes

for the company's 50th birthday celebrations.

Today is the day where we've just chucked everybody on it today

because we've got so much going together

that needs to go together.

We are running a little bit behind,

so a little bit of help for a couple of days now,

for a few hours, will get us back on track.

She'll be a lovely little boat when she's finished.

She'll be cracking. I'd quite like her myself.

It's all hands on deck.

There's a busy few weeks ahead for Gerry and his team.

-OVER RADIO:

-'Rookie 22 is now onsite.'

Back at the disaster relief test,

a rescue team from HMS Sutherland has finally arrived

at the doctor's surgery.

Anybody in there?

-Have you tried around the building?

-We've been around the building.

This requires heavy cutting equipment to get access to the door.

OK. Command huddle.

News of the missing doctor quickly reaches

second-in-command Pete Brotton.

Update from the doctor's surgery. The doctor is trapped inside.

Priority I think is get heavy cutting, get some BA in there

so we can extract him.

But the specialist equipment needed to save the doctor

is still onboard Sutherland.

I find it frustrating that I don't have everything

straight to hand, so here it's taking us 20 minutes

to get the people we need to go and deal with an incident.

Can you give me an update, please?

Yeah. A mechanism injury. He's been crushed by this boat.

It's approximately two tonnes in weight. The injuries are...

Chef Dykes has kept his patient stable

and backup has arrived.

-Is this the heavy rescue team?

-Yeah.

-Who's in charge of heavy rescue?

-Yeah.

Buffer, what's the approximate time for lifting the boat?

-Say ten to 15 minutes.

-Ten to 15 minutes. Fine.

If it's any quicker, so much better.

Are you ready? So, two, six, move.

Down.

We're going to come back but across,

so he's going to go down and then back up this way.

I'm very happy with how I performed today.

I think I've done everything I've been trained to do

to the best of my ability.

I think it's altogether been rather successful.

Just mind your stepping on the curb here.

At the doctor's surgery,

the equipment needed is finally ready,

but some people fear it's all too late.

You took so long to try and rescue him he's died.

Please keep moving on until you get to the village hall.

We waited hours for some form of help

and now you just let them die.

It's been a hard day for Pete Brotton.

Not everything's gone to plan.

The main learning point for me is the slowness.

Once the decision making comes in there,

suddenly everything has to be double guessed

and it took so much longer to get kit here than I was expecting.

-Interesting.

-Lessons for everybody.

-Yep.

The ship's company are a step closer

to their goal of rejoining the fleet,

but tougher tests lie ahead.

Plymouth sits at the mouth of two rivers, the Plym and the Tamar.

They spill out into Plymouth Sound.

A large, sheltered bay that's home to a wide range of marine life.

Under the surface, in the marine environment,

there's lots and lots of different habitat types.

So I see it as a really good natural laboratory.

Marine biologist Dan Smale is researching the different types

of seaweed that live here.

Even on this tiny patch of reef

right in front of the Plymouth waterfront,

we have lots of different varieties of seaweed.

So, in terms of the brown seaweeds, we have one species here.

Another species here, which is generally found

higher up on the shore.

And then if we look closely, we can even see some of the things

that are actually eating the seaweed, like this sea snail here.

Today, Dan's collecting two different types of seaweed.

He wants to know how much life they support.

The main objective of today's dive is to collect the kelp plants

that I tagged a few weeks ago.

So, it's tangle, which is the cold water species

and then the golden kelp, which is the warm Mediterranean species

and then we'll get them back to the lab.

Three, two, one, go!

Dan's here because an increase in sea temperatures has led to

a large rise in the amount of warm water golden kelp

in recent years.

This is the golden kelp, which is the warm water species

and has increased dramatically in abundance

in the last few decades around Plymouth.

This one here is the cold water version

and it's actually quite different.

You can see that it's much browner in colour.

So they're the two species

which are really quite different from each other.

There's now more of the warm water golden kelp

than the native cold water species

and that could mean big changes for the rest of the food web.

So, the question really is does that matter?

If you had, say, a replacement of an oak forest with a beech forest,

you're likely to see a quite different environment in that forest

and in terms of the other plants and animals that can use that habitat.

So it's a very similar thing in the sea in a kelp forest.

Dan's collecting samples of both types of kelp to see how much

other marine life they support.

I can see the tag.

Excellent, well done, nice one. That's one, that's good.

I think we've nearly got ten samples of each of the two species now,

which will give us enough to actually compare them properly.

After an hour, it's time to resurface.

Topside, topside. This is diver Dan.

Divers finished work and about to leave bottom.

-That's really good.

-MAN:

-Good dive?

-Yeah, excellent.

Considering all of the rain we've had, the visibility was great.

Yeah, it's beautiful, it was really good.

This is quite an interesting individual

because it's really colonised by lots and lots of different species.

Back at the Marine Biological Association,

Dan's measuring how much life

the two different species of kelp support.

He starts with the cold water variety.

So, the weight of all the other growth on that plant is 122 grams.

There's not much on the golden warm water species,

which has a smooth surface that prevents other organisms

from attaching to it.

Blade weight is 180.

But the darker, cold water kelp is teeming with life.

There's lots of algae and a wide range of creatures living inside it.

Dan finds a fan worm,

a brittle star,

a terebellid worm

and a bristle worm.

If we had a total replacement of the cold water species

by the warm water species in some sites,

that may lead to decreased local biodiversity.

And might also impact the inshore food web, so really at this stage,

it's too early to tell what the end result will be but it's

really important that we keep monitoring these systems

to see how they change.

Dan will keep studying the kelp forest for the next three years,

which means he'll be spending many more hours underwater.

Ben Squire started his boating business

as a fresh faced 19-year-old,

dropping out of university to follow his passion

and run Plymouth's first mackerel fishing trips for tourists.

All right, Lewis?

20 years on, his love for angling is stronger than ever.

But that doesn't mean catching fish

and keeping customers happy has got any easier.

It's the open ocean.

A big ocean and really, we're using little hooks,

little, tiny hooks in a great big mass of water

and it isn't easy but I'm sure we'll do all right.

There's a few fish around

so hopefully we'll get into one, you know.

-Madam, take your time.

-Steady.

Thank you very much.

Today, he's taking out a group of holiday-makers

to a fishing hot spot called The Drop-Off.

That's where the tides meet and the plankton is gathered.

And the little fish are there, the bigger ones.

So that's hopefully where we're going to catch some mackerel.

All right?

As they set off, Ben gives the numbers on board

to the port authorities in case they run into any problems at sea.

Hi there, we've got 17 passengers and two crew for a fishing trip

in the Rame Head area, please.

We've just got to radio in the numbers.

I like to do mine on the telephone, so...

Keep the fishing a little bit low key, you know.

Stops the competition grieving over what we're doing.

It doesn't take long before the fish start biting.

-MAN:

-Just watch them and laugh.

Here they are! Come on, you're nearly there. Come on!

-Come on!

-She's getting excited.

-She's got them.

-SHE YELPS

Whoa! Yeah!

Ooh, lovely, eh! Beauties!

Yeah! Well done.

But the promising start doesn't last.

We're going through a bit of a lull here.

We're going to have to get our thinking caps on.

Started off OK. The fishing's dipped away.

The fish may have dried up but Ben's got a few tricks up his sleeve.

We're just going to put a bit of bait on here.

Yeah, seeing if this will entice...

Get them on the feed a little bit.

And fortunes quickly change.

Yeah. They're just starting to come on the feed a little bit now.

-Very firm.

-Got to keep going, yeah!

There you go, just hold him up like that.

With whiting, pollock and plenty of mackerel on board,

it's been a successful trip.

In the end, I think they all caught a good few fish each.

So yeah, quite happy.

I think they've done well. You know.

Aye-aye, Cole.

Cheers, buddy.

There's even a few fish left for Ben's chefs to cook up in his cafe.

Yeah, fresh fish coming up now, beautiful.

They will sell within seconds.

Today, HMS Sutherland is being tested to see how it copes

with the damage caused by a missile hit in a staged war exercise.

If things go well, the ship, which has just come out of refit,

will be allowed to rejoin the fleet.

Today, we are being hit by everything.

Submarines, surface units and aircraft.

An exercise in not only defending ourselves

and the task group but also where we take damage, repairing it.

Please advise.

Second-in-command Pete Brotton knows everyone will have to be

at the top of their game to impress the examiners.

This is the most pressure most of the people here will be put on

when we are in United Kingdom waters.

So that when we do go to real operations,

we're used to that pressure and it's not a shock.

Beat them back, too much smoke. Smoke logging.

-Force them that way?

-Yeah.

Below deck, the examiners are preparing to simulate fires

and floods.

Very shortly, we'll get the smoke in.

It does bring back old memories, yeah. I feel for the guys sometimes

because they don't know what's coming and they've got to

deal with the fires and the floods as and when they see it.

Everyone on HMS Sutherland is involved in today's test.

Just about to launch the helicopter

and then we're going into the next stage of the war,

which is when the gloves come off.

It becomes open season

and I strongly suspect we're going to take some damage.

As their helicopter goes hunting submarines,

Sutherland is put under simulated attack.

-OVER RADIO:

-'This is Coalition Warship Foxtrot 18.

'State your intentions. Over.'

45 seconds to torpedo arrival.

But not everyone's ready.

Hurry up cos there's a raid inbound.

You don't want to be caught on the ladder, do you?

'20 seconds, all positions. Brace, brace, brace.'

All bracing on the bridge!

'All positions stand to, stand to...'

Word comes through that the first attack has missed.

But there's another jet also playing the role

of an enemy missile on the way.

-Turning inbound.

-Roger.

-Yeah. There you go.

-Inbound, two miles south.

Yeah, two miles. 'Brace, brace, brace!'

-Hit ships, hit ships.

-Bang, bang, bang!

The bangs means the ship has taken an imaginary hit.

They now need to show they can deal with it.

-Let's get the noise down.

-Stand to, carry out blanket search.

Right, we've just come under an air attack from Mirage fighter-bombers.

We've sustained damage on forehead and starboard side

and just conducting mini chops, which are system operator checks,

to find out what capabilities we've lost.

Right, let's go and have a look and see.

OK, one casualty. Fire team, go forward to 1 Charlie now.

Examiner Kev Hewson is overseeing one of the fires.

You get a blanket search. What do you do on a blanket search, gents?

Have a look see what you can see.

-What we got?

-Fire, fire, fire!

-There we go then, come on.

Location marking. 2 Juliet!

Try and make an advance on the fire, keep your LBA going.

-Fire, fire, fire!

-Hey, is there anybody in there?

Do we need to get them out? There's a fire there, isn't there?

OK, we've got to get that hose out as quickly as we can, haven't we?

Get down on one knee.

The firefighters make a good start.

But Kev wants the test to be as realistic as possible

so he forces a retreat.

Too much, too hot. OK?

Come on, move back.

Move back.

Scene of incident, what have you got?

Fire, dry stall, no casualties.

At the front of the ship, Pete Brotton is getting to grips

with what's happened.

-So we've got a fire.

-OK, fire in 1 Charlie.

OK, it's being attacked, is it?

-What have you got for us?

-There's fire up in the... Above that.

-Does that mean half deck?

-Yeah.

-Right, is anyone dealing with it?

Yeah, there's people there.

Pete needs to make sure everyone's doing their job.

Any lapses will be picked up by the examiners.

-When am I going to get something for the pain?

-Listen...

-When am I?

Marine Johnson, you're going to be OK.

We've got to get back into this compartment

and we've got to get rid of the smoke yet!

Kev's checking the team are doing everything by the book

before they go back in and put the fire out.

They've cleared all personnel that aren't in breathing apparatus

out of the two spare mess decks.

In a short time, they're going to charge their hoses

and get ready to make their re-entry through this steel door here.

HE SMASHES THE DOOR

The team go in and their tactics are spot on.

Stop there, team leader. Re-evaluate your situation.

A couple of minutes later, Kev ends the test. He's impressed.

I have given fire extinguished, boundary search complete.

No further incident in 2 Juliet.

So out you come, firefighter. You're working well.

-Fire extinguished in 2 Juliet!

-Please acknowledge!

News about the fire quickly reaches Pete Brotton.

Come in.

The fire is out and most importantly, we've got

rid of the smoke forehead, so internally we're winning.

The ship has dealt with all the scenarios but it's not been easy.

Stand to, stand to.

Absolutely knackered but mostly I'm feeling absolutely red hot.

I could sit under a cold shower for a week at the moment.

A few days later, Captain David Dominy from the

Navy's Flag Officer Sea Training Department has some good news.

Ship's company, stand at ease!

Sutherland, good afternoon. Captain David Dominy.

You know me as Captain Sea Training South.

I own your training.

All their hard work has paid off.

They've passed and can rejoin the fleet.

So well done, be confident and look after each other.

Relieved. Glad to be out of here and looking forward to some sleep.

He's letting us get on with operations.

That's always good news in our book.

HMS Sutherland has left Plymouth behind and is now on operations.

First to 11. Game on!

Ben Squire's new staff have done well.

He's even had the chance to relax for a few minutes.

Right, this is quite serious, actually. He's pretty good!

Any more please for the 11 o'clock one-hour harbour cruise,

ladies and gentlemen?

His new tout, Lee Wright, is now a dab hand at selling

boat trips from the Barbican.

Have a lovely trip.

This way for your boat trips, ladies and gentlemen.

Under-fives sail for free. You basically pay for yourselves, guys.

What's not to like?

Tough crowd, tough crowd.

You just take it as it comes, really. I don't really find it hard.

It's just talking to people, mate, at the end of the day. You know.

After a nervy start, Lee's changed more than his haircut.

He's made the job his own.

..get on the ship!

If you're feeling bored, come aboard. If you snooze, you lose.

Come and get on the cruise.

If you've got a dog, it ain't no prob.

If you've got a kid, it's only four quid.

And if they're under five, they get a free ride.

So don't be angry, bring the family, and...something else that rhymes.

Yeah, it's just... I think I've been gifted

in the skills of communication, you know.

Happy Wednesday, enjoy. Have a lovely, lovely day. Take care.

Lee's persuaded plenty of punters to go on Ben's boats.

Have a lovely trip.

Lee there today was absolutely fantastic.

You know, he's cracking on. Top tout.

One-hour harbour cruise of the day!

Lots of Lee's sales have been for the Cawsand Ferry,

where new skipper, Finlay Campbell,

who came down from Scotland for the job, has thrived.

Ben has offered me a place back here next year.

I kind of get on well with the fella.

And to be honest with you, I'm seriously considering

coming back next year and having a closer look.

We all need to catch at least one fish today, folks.

There is the fishing trips forfeit if you don't, all right?

-It's been nonstop.

-Nothing there yet.

But Ben's pleased with how the season's gone.

Oh, yeah, we're stringing them now.

Good man. Watch your dad's ears!

It's been a cracking year, crew have been fantastic,

the team have delivered for the company.

Always a lot, a lot of pressure at the beginning of the season

to... you know, to deliver, basically.

We've got enough money now to get the boats all geared up

for next year and...

..very happy.

It's four days before Princess Yachts are sending

their revamped boat out to Cannes.

Gerry Lapthorn is making sure any last-minute hitches are ironed out.

The build-wise, we're basically there.

Just tidying up a few bits and piece and a few checks.

Although many of the materials are modern,

Gerry's made sure a bit of her 1960s spirit lives on.

This is the original compass from the boat

and when we got her, she was a little bit worse for wear.

But we found a retired chap who used to make these in Southampton,

so we polished her up and cleaned her up

and then he sort of finished her off,

filled the proper fluid inside,

and she works absolutely perfectly.

It's a little special part of the boat.

There are some neat design features too.

We've added these nice little doors that lock in

when you're at sea so they don't move.

So you've got a nice bit of space.

But it does work really well.

Gerry's been working on the boat for three months.

So, sending her off will be an emotional moment.

Yeah, I would be sad to see her go.

It's been hard work, a lot of hours.

No, it's been a fantastic project.

And when you see her as she is now, it's definitely worth it.

A few days later, the boat, which has been named Charlotte,

is in Cannes.

And Gerry's left to reflect on a job well done.

They absolutely love the boat.

It's a big talk in the boating world, this boat.

Very proud to be part of it, especially the way she's turned out.

So we're a man down in the kitchen.

-We're a man down.

-On our busiest night.

Tonight, Ben Squire needs all his staff to be on top form.

-How are you, bud, all right?

-Very good. You?

-Yeah, all sorted for tonight?

-Yeah. Lovely weather.

-Oh!

-Dream come true, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

Every August, Plymouth hosts the National Fireworks Championships.

And with 100,000 people coming to watch,

Ben wants to make the most of the opportunity.

I always like to think it's a bit like fishing.

We try and harvest the fish when it's all feeding in a big shoal.

Same with human beings, really.

Sort of want to offer our services and show them a good time

and obviously take some money for the business as well.

One of the best views of the fireworks is on the water.

So all of Ben's boats are heading out.

About 9.30, the fireworks go off, don't they?

Yeah, at 9.30 they start.

We've got all, one-two-three...

Six boats loading today all at the same time,

so we're going to have a lot of customers all arriving at once.

400 people and we've got to...

Ben's hoping he can fill his boats and his cafe.

That's the way!

-Nearly there, kids.

-No, we're not.

The Rhodes family have just driven all the way from Hull to Plymouth.

I said I would like to live here

but then there's so many hills so I decided I didn't.

Yeah, compared to Hull, that is one thing we have noticed. Really hilly!

They're also watching the fireworks from the water.

But not on one of Ben's boats.

They're catching the ferry to France for their first foreign holiday.

Right, we're just going to go and check in, I think.

Got to choose a lane, I'll go to this far one.

The queue don't look very big on that one so I'll go on that one.

Tonight's ferry sailing will give passengers a great view

of the fireworks, if it gets out on time.

Good evening. All right? That's your ticket and your passport.

To speed things up,

duty operations manager Karen White has opened the doors early.

That's all of your information there with your cabin keys on top.

-OK.

-You're welcome.

The check-in's been open for 25 minutes and we've checked in

50 out of 276 vehicles at the moment,

so there's not a lot here just yet.

Please hang that on your rear view mirror

with the numbers facing forwards.

The Rhodes family are amongst the early arrivals

and pass through check-in with time for a quick call home.

-Nanny says, "Are you excited, Lucas?"

-Yeah!

-He said yes.

-What about you, Scarlet?

-Yeah, I'm a bit nervous.

-She's a bit nervous.

-Because there's basking sharks!

-Because there's basking sharks.

SHE LAUGHS

Dad Jamie isn't taking any chances when it comes to making sure

they can have a good old brew.

It's Yorkshire tea, you see?

We don't know what sort of tea they'll have in France but...yeah.

So that's why we bought our own tea.

Down on the waterfront, Ben's got his hands full.

Welcome aboard. Careful as you come up there, OK?

How we doing, guys, all right?

He's managed to sell nearly 400 tickets for his boat trips.

We're nearly there. Two boats are away.

We've got another one, two, three, four to fill up.

With his cafe packed too, and crowds arriving all over the city,

Ben's boats head out to get a prime view of the action.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Welcome aboard the Plymouth Princess.

My name is Brian and I'm your skipper today.

We'll be coming right into the river Plym to watch the fireworks display.

Rib, good evening, ma'am. I'm here for information.

That's out the camber 4POB and fireworks marshalling. Over.

With hundreds of boats on the water,

Royal Navy Chief Petty Officer Mike Donovan

is trying to keep everyone safe.

We get a lot of small craft that come out which are normally

not lit up so they make it very difficult for people

to move around the harbour.

It doesn't take Mike long to spot people who could cause a problem.

You're in the exclusion zone!

You really do have to have eyes in the back of your head in this job.

I'll just go and have a little chat with these guys.

Are you staying for the fireworks, are you?

OK, it's just that when it finishes, everyone bomb-bursts

and I'm a bit conscious you've got no lights on.

-It will be very difficult to see you, that's all.

-OK, mate.

Take it easy. Have a good night, lads.

-Oh, my goodness!

-I don't know whether I like this or not.

Now there's no going back.

A first foreign holiday can be stressful.

And it doesn't help if you've never driven onto a ferry before.

Mum, stop being a back-seat driver.

-I'm not, I'm telling him.

-I'm rubbish at hill starts.

Get it up till past two and now raise your clutch slowly

till you feel it pull in.

Accelerate, accelerate.

My God!

They make it up the ramp.

The ferry can leave in time to give its passengers

a great view of the action.

Not everyone smokes down here.

Everyone on Ben's boats is getting ready to be wowed too.

We normally get a five-minute warning of the start

of the firework display, so I'll keep you in touch.

As soon as I hear anything, I will let you know.

-ANNOUNCER:

-'Three, two, one. Start!'

With all eyes on the displays, Mike's got some marshalling to do.

I'm not waving at you, I'm telling you to get out the way.

Have you got any nav lights on you, mate?

Bit bigger than the ones we usually do, though.

Plymouth has given the Rhodes family the perfect start to their holiday.

-This is the best night to leave, innit?

-It is.

PEOPLE CHEER

Well done, Dad.