0:00:02 > 0:00:07Britain is an island surrounded by a cold and unforgiving sea.
0:00:07 > 0:00:13For centuries it protected us from attack. But to prosper and thrive
0:00:13 > 0:00:17we would need to do more than just hide behind her saltwater shield.
0:00:17 > 0:00:22Britain needed brave men, willing to venture out into the unknown.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24And it needed good boats to take them there.
0:00:26 > 0:00:29I've spent my life at sea.
0:00:29 > 0:00:36Now I'm going to take passage on six boats that together tell the story of modern Britain.
0:00:36 > 0:00:42Built for exploration, war, industry and our very survival,
0:00:42 > 0:00:47these are the boats that built Britain and changed the way we live forever.
0:00:49 > 0:00:53This time I'm setting sail on a boat that fed millions,
0:00:53 > 0:00:57a fishing boat, a Scottish Fifie, the Reaper.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01In the 19th century, Britain's population was growing fast.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05The country needed a source of cheap, abundant food.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08The seas around Scotland were full of it.
0:01:08 > 0:01:14All the fishermen needed now was a boat fast, powerful and safe enough to bring that food to shore.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Fortunes have been won and lost at sea
0:01:32 > 0:01:37and none more so than in vessels like this. The Reaper.
0:01:37 > 0:01:40The archetypal big Scottish herring lugger.
0:01:40 > 0:01:43The vessel that, in a very real sense, fed Britain.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46So how did she come to be?
0:01:48 > 0:01:52The Reaper is a Fifie-class herring boat.
0:01:52 > 0:01:56She's the biggest sail-powered fishing vessels ever built in Britain.
0:01:56 > 0:02:0270 feet on the water, with a total sail area of almost 3,500 square feet.
0:02:02 > 0:02:06She's like nothing before or since.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11You can see and feel the power of this sail as it's working.
0:02:13 > 0:02:19This giant of a boat can reach speeds of over ten knots and weighs in at 60 tonnes.
0:02:19 > 0:02:24In fact she's so big that her development was only possible
0:02:24 > 0:02:29with the introduction of new steam technology, to hoist the huge sails
0:02:29 > 0:02:34and pull in the drift nets, full to bursting with up to ten tonnes of herring.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39It'd be a noble sight if it was coming over shining...
0:02:39 > 0:02:43- With silver.- ..with silver herring.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46At the end of the 19th century there were almost 1,000
0:02:46 > 0:02:50big luggers fishing off the east coast of Scotland.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Now only the Reaper remains.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03But despite her size and complexity, the Reaper was not a vessel
0:03:03 > 0:03:06designed by a team of specialist boat designers.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09She's a craft that evolved from hard experience,
0:03:09 > 0:03:14designed and conceived by the very fishermen who sailed her.
0:03:21 > 0:03:28But to understand how the Reaper came to be, you have to start not at sea, but inland.
0:03:31 > 0:03:371792 is known as the year of the sheep in the Scottish Highlands.
0:03:37 > 0:03:43Wealthy landlords decided they could make more money from wool than from their tenant farmers.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48So they forced them off the land, and down to the coast.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Unable to make ends meet on their new, smaller farms,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58many were searching for a different way to feed their families.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02I'm walking down to these shore-side crofts for the first time
0:04:02 > 0:04:07this morning and I'm thinking, "what on earth must it have been like for the first guys to do this?"
0:04:07 > 0:04:14As I look around I see land that holds little promise, and away in front of me is the North Sea.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19Not a good prospect.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23But what those farmers soon realized was that out there,
0:04:23 > 0:04:28off the Dogger Bank, the waters were teeming with millions of herring.
0:04:28 > 0:04:35With little land to farm on, they would have no option but to learn to sail, to get out on the deep.
0:04:35 > 0:04:37But they were going to have to take their lives in their hands.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41Because these are some of the most dangerous waters in Britain.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46I've had nights out there, with the sea out of sight of land, shallower
0:04:46 > 0:04:51than the height of my mast, and breakers all around me, and known I've been in the wrong place,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54and been fortunate to survive, I shouldn't have been there. I should
0:04:54 > 0:04:59have been off the Dogger and so should many a fisherman before me who didn't make it off the bank.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It can be a desperate place.
0:05:02 > 0:05:06But it can feed you too, and it can feed your family,
0:05:06 > 0:05:10and given the chance it can feed the whole of Britain.
0:05:18 > 0:05:25Here in Helmsdale, on the north east coast of Scotland, fishing is now a way of life.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29But 200 years ago, when the first farmers came down from the hills,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34they didn't have the faintest clue about fishing or the sea.
0:05:34 > 0:05:39To succeed, what they needed was a small boat that was easy to sail
0:05:39 > 0:05:42and cheap to build.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45Alex Jappy is Helmsdale's harbour master.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49He is directly descended from those first fishermen.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54His boat Blossom is the sort of craft they would have sailed in those early days.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56Wow...
0:05:56 > 0:05:58wonderful vessel.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02It must be one of the most basic rigs you can get.
0:06:02 > 0:06:06Yeah, and because its not all tied to the mast the air can flow
0:06:06 > 0:06:10freely over the sail and it sails a lot better than people imagine.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14- I'm dying to have a go. - She's all yours.- Thank you very much.
0:06:14 > 0:06:21Blossom is a Stroma yawl, the boat that launched Scottish fishing on a remarkable evolutionary journey
0:06:21 > 0:06:26that started with simple boats like this and ended with giants like the Reaper.
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Back then she would have been an open boat,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34vulnerable to every breaking wave.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36She wouldn't have had an engine either.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39Though in a narrow harbour like Helmsdale's, I'm sure they
0:06:39 > 0:06:42would have killed for a few horsepower to help them through.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Well, we're under power,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47that apart, this is what it must have been like on the day.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50I'm looking astern and there's two orange marks behind me.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54If I keep them in line we stay off the bricks, which is where we want to be.
0:06:54 > 0:06:58The skipper will give me hell if we get off the line. Looking good.
0:06:58 > 0:07:01I can see a red and a green buoy out here, and we'll leave
0:07:01 > 0:07:05the red to starboard, and the green buoy will pass to port of us.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08Bit more power...
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Oh, that sounds good.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17With the harbour cleared, I'm really curious to find out just how this early design will handle
0:07:17 > 0:07:20as she would have done, all those years ago,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22under sail alone.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28And on a small boat like this, she should go up without a hitch.
0:07:31 > 0:07:35That's the great thing about this boat, she's just so simple.
0:07:41 > 0:07:46So what we've got here is the simplest of all rigs.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50We've got a simple four-cornered sail
0:07:50 > 0:07:54that sail makers would be able to build without any difficulty.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58It's controlled by a rope, called a sheet, on this corner.
0:07:58 > 0:08:04The front bottom corner is simply hooked to the bow of the boat.
0:08:04 > 0:08:10The top of the sail is spread by a spar, called a yard. And to hoist the sail
0:08:10 > 0:08:14there's a rope goes through a sheath, at the top of the mast, which comes down,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18is hooked onto the ring, and as you saw we pulled it up from here.
0:08:18 > 0:08:24And there's a clever bit. This mast is effectively unstayed, there's nothing really holding it up
0:08:24 > 0:08:30at all. But once the sail is up, it's held up by the very rope which pulls the sail aloft.
0:08:30 > 0:08:37This rig has got to be the cheapest rig you can have, and yet actually it's one of the most efficient.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Because that sail, it just sits there and the breeze
0:08:40 > 0:08:46blows round it and as it blows round it blows faster round the back of the sail than the front, and because
0:08:46 > 0:08:51of the mysteries of science, the boat is lifted in that direction.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Couldn't be simpler.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59Cheap, simple but effective, it's the perfect boat for a farmer who's
0:08:59 > 0:09:03had to turn his hand to fishing and is finding his way out on the water.
0:09:13 > 0:09:15What a fantastic little boat.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Really...simple.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19Very beautiful, actually.
0:09:19 > 0:09:23This is the sort of boat that a man could build on the beach.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25They could even make their own sails, and they did.
0:09:25 > 0:09:30And with boats like this subsistence fishing was a genuine possibility here.
0:09:30 > 0:09:36But despite all her advantages, this boat has one serious drawback.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38You see, she wasn't decked at that time.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41She was very vulnerable to heavy weather.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45Really, they were limited completely by their size.
0:09:45 > 0:09:50If you want to fish more adventurously, make more money, you needed a bigger boat.
0:09:50 > 0:09:52You've got to go further off shore.
0:09:52 > 0:09:58And, of course, as soon as you do that danger is lurking under every storm cloud.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Taking Alex's little Stroma yawl out on a sunny day is one thing.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07To do it willingly in a gale could be seriously dangerous.
0:10:09 > 0:10:14The North Sea is infamous for its steep, breaking waves.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18It only takes one big one to swamp an undecked boat and send her to the bottom.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26But there were fishermen willing to risk everything to pull fish from these waters.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29It shows how desperate these people were.
0:10:29 > 0:10:34And the death toll was becoming horrendous.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39In one single night of tempest in 1848, 100 fishermen lost their lives,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44leaving 47 widows and 161 children behind.
0:10:46 > 0:10:50There's an account here from the Aberdeen Journal from 1848.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55"From the proceeding accounts it will be seen that it is impossible
0:10:55 > 0:10:58"to give at present a correct estimate of the total loss of life
0:10:58 > 0:11:01"within the districts visited by the gale.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06"Upwards of 40 individuals have perished on the Aberdeen and Kincardineshire coast,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10"while we already have certain intelligence of more than
0:11:10 > 0:11:14"50 having been lost on those of Sutherland and Caithness."
0:11:16 > 0:11:19It is shocking, isn't it?
0:11:19 > 0:11:22The numbers of people...
0:11:22 > 0:11:27fathers, sons, who just died out there in one night.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39With each storm, more men drowned, and it was only so long
0:11:39 > 0:11:42that politicians could ignore the grim statistics.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47In 1849, they decided to act.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52A comprehensive study of the state of Scottish fishing was made,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56with the findings written up and presented to Parliament.
0:11:57 > 0:12:02The Washington report concluded that two things were urgently needed.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Better harbours and, most important of all,
0:12:06 > 0:12:08safer boats.
0:12:10 > 0:12:15Again and again, the report stressed one area of boat design.
0:12:15 > 0:12:20Decking. Decking is a boat's most vital safety feature
0:12:20 > 0:12:25because it prevents waves from filling and sinking her.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The report also included the lines of other boats
0:12:28 > 0:12:32to help illustrate how this idea might be incorporated.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34The Scots fishermen set to work.
0:12:34 > 0:12:40They accepted the safety features, but they also wanted a bigger, faster boat.
0:12:41 > 0:12:47Now boat yards sprang up all over Scotland's east coast, eager to exploit an increase
0:12:47 > 0:12:51in demand for boats that would meet the need for both safety and speed.
0:12:55 > 0:13:03So, just how did you go about designing a brand new type of fishing boat back in 1850?
0:13:03 > 0:13:07You think, new design of fishing boat. They'll go to some designer, won't they?
0:13:07 > 0:13:13Some genius with a pen is going to draw a wonderful plan like you see in the books of a fishing boat.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Different from anything else. Well, that's not how it was.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Actually these are vernacular craft.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22They were designed by working people for working people, and like
0:13:22 > 0:13:26the whole of the British Isles over, they never got drawn on paper.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27They were built from models.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29Here's how it worked.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34This is a half model,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36and the way it worked was this.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40The boat builder and the fisherman got together.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43They might have done it in the church hall in Scotland,
0:13:43 > 0:13:45in the south of England they probably went to the pub.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48But they talked about the shape they wanted the boat to be.
0:13:48 > 0:13:54And then the builder actually built a model of half of the hull, just like that, and he showed it
0:13:54 > 0:13:57to the fisherman and he said, "What do you think of this?"
0:13:57 > 0:14:03And the fisherman eyeballed it and he could see everything he wanted to see and he said,
0:14:03 > 0:14:07"I think she's a bit fat aft. I think you need to do something about that."
0:14:07 > 0:14:12So the builder went away, got his sandpaper and he filed the boat away or maybe glued
0:14:12 > 0:14:18a bit more on, smoothed it up again, took it to the fisherman, "What do you think of her now?"
0:14:18 > 0:14:20"Yeah, she'll do!"
0:14:20 > 0:14:25For generations, that's how Scottish fishermen had built their small boats.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31And now, the Washington Report had made clear that these boats were no longer up to the job.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Yet these same methods of design and construction
0:14:34 > 0:14:41produced a thrilling new design, huge, fast and safe - the Fifie.
0:14:41 > 0:14:46This is the basic model for the hull of a Fifie like the Reaper.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49She looks very bluff and ordinary, doesn't she?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52It's only when you look at her end on that you see
0:14:52 > 0:14:55the beauty of her lines, look at these lovely curves here.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58The sweetness of the way the water is going to flow off that.
0:14:58 > 0:15:03And the staunch, aggressive chin sticking out there.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05That's going to meet the sea.
0:15:05 > 0:15:08There's a lot of boat in the water and that's going to make her safe.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13But she's long and lean underneath, and that's going to make her fast.
0:15:13 > 0:15:19But the real test of any boat is when she's launched and takes to the sea.
0:15:19 > 0:15:26And finally I'm lucky enough to sail on the Reaper, the biggest Fifie ever built.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31I've been invited on board by Robert Prescott, a maritime historian,
0:15:31 > 0:15:34who's spearheaded the restoration of Reaper to her former glory.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38She's absolutely huge, isn't she?
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- She is, yes. - I can't wait to get out there.
0:15:40 > 0:15:41I've come a long way this.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50Heading out to sea, the first thing that strikes me about this boat
0:15:50 > 0:15:53is her sheer size.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56As the 19th century progressed,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59herring became such an important food for the whole of Britain
0:15:59 > 0:16:02that the government offered a financial incentive
0:16:02 > 0:16:06to any Scottish fishermen building a boat over 60ft.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10The bigger your boat, the more money you got.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13And few were larger than the Reaper.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19Her statistics are impressive enough on paper, but out here
0:16:19 > 0:16:22with the best part of 3,000 square feet of sail
0:16:22 > 0:16:25about to go aloft, she's a boat that demands respect.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Right down on the deck is one of the biggest piles of canvas
0:16:33 > 0:16:36you'll ever see on a fore and aft rigged vessel.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40This is the biggest lugger, probably, in the world.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45I'm hanging onto the main halyard that's going to pull up this great big sail in a minute.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49There's another block aloft.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51And this piece here is the hauling end of the rope.
0:16:51 > 0:16:58This is what, in a smaller boat, a couple of guys would get hold of, heave away, and lift that sail.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00But you can't do it on here. It is too much.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04And that was always the limiting size on sailing luggers.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09So how did they hoist the sails on a boat the size of the Reaper?
0:17:09 > 0:17:13The answer was a new technology that revolutionized Scottish fishing
0:17:13 > 0:17:16and allowed the boats to get even bigger.
0:17:16 > 0:17:19Steam.
0:17:20 > 0:17:25Hoisting the Reaper's mainsail would have been a backbreaking job for the whole crew.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28An unthinkable task in a heavy sea.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31But by harnessing the power of the steam capstan,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34it became a simple operation carried out at the pull of a lever.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42Our man here is hoisting the sail using the capstan, lot of load
0:17:42 > 0:17:44on the halyard, the yard is slowly going up the mast.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50There's a guy at the foot of the mast there who is controlling the front edge of the sail.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53He controls it, otherwise it will go absolutely berserk.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56As it is, it's gone up remarkably under control.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I'm most impressed by that.
0:17:58 > 0:18:03I thought it would be much more chaotic, and it's not, and the tension is starting to come on now.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08If we watch the front edge of the sail we'll see it sharpen up,
0:18:08 > 0:18:11as the load comes on the capstan.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13Here it comes.
0:18:17 > 0:18:23The sail is filling, the boat is bearing away slowly from the wind,
0:18:23 > 0:18:26and, well, we're off.
0:18:34 > 0:18:39She's doing what she was born to do now, and this is what I've come all this way to do.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42And in fact what I've been waiting 20 years to do.
0:18:42 > 0:18:44This is a serious thrill.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Capable of over ten knots, boats like the Reaper could now travel
0:18:54 > 0:19:00over 200 miles in a single day, opening up new fishing grounds all along the east coast of Britain.
0:19:07 > 0:19:10Standing here, on the lee bow of the boat,
0:19:10 > 0:19:15right in the sail, I can feel the wind being accelerated around the sail as it goes round.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19And actually, I'm on the slow side of the sail. What's going on round
0:19:19 > 0:19:23the back is probably five knots more than what I'm getting here.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27You can see and feel the power of the sail as it's working. And as you look up,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31it's gigantic.
0:19:34 > 0:19:41Now men who had once fished alone worked as crews, all pulling together to tame these huge boats.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49It's a brute to handle. I think you really need half a dozen
0:19:49 > 0:19:55young fit Scottish fisherman who are motivated to get rich quick, to make this happen.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59But these lads are amazing, I'm really impressed that these fellas can do this.
0:19:59 > 0:20:04Not a man of them without a bus pass, and they're sailing a boat that was designed for 25-year-olds.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08OK, guys.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10All right, John?
0:20:10 > 0:20:15Now, with the sails set, it's off to the fishing grounds.
0:20:21 > 0:20:27The Fifie transformed fishing in Scotland and changed the lives of the fishermen forever.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33Bigger, faster boats allowed them to fish further afield
0:20:33 > 0:20:38and crews were now working from the Norway Deeps to the Dover Strait.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43The local lasses followed the boats, travelling as far south as Suffolk,
0:20:43 > 0:20:47gutting and salting the fish the men brought ashore.
0:20:52 > 0:20:54All right then.
0:20:54 > 0:20:5650 cran tonight, lads!
0:21:00 > 0:21:06Herring are fished with drift nets that hang down from floats on the surface.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10By the late 19th century, Scots fishermen were using new cotton nets
0:21:10 > 0:21:14that were much lighter than their hemp predecessors.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19In her heyday, the Reaper would have set over a mile of nets.
0:21:19 > 0:21:25Today we're going to try our luck with just 100 yards to see what we can catch.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30- We've got the nets out, Robert. - Absolutely, and it's looking good.
0:21:30 > 0:21:35You can see the line of the head rope, the cork floats on it, there.
0:21:35 > 0:21:38And at the end of each of the panels of net, the big white bow,
0:21:38 > 0:21:43- it'll form a nice straight line in a wee while.- Yeah.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47This boat represents the absolute peak of herring drifter development,
0:21:47 > 0:21:53and you couldn't run a boat this size, and fleets of nets this size,
0:21:53 > 0:21:56- without the assistance of this beast here.- No.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08There it is, our little fleet, stretched out to windward of us.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16And then all you could do was wait and hope the silver darlings,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19as fishermen call the herring, were busy swimming into the nets.
0:22:23 > 0:22:29It was much-needed respite, and unlike the earlier, open boats, Reaper offered a place
0:22:29 > 0:22:35out of the wind and spray where the fishermen could put their feet up and fill their bellies.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Not only did the Reaper have a cabin to shelter from the elements,
0:22:39 > 0:22:44she also offered a coal-fired stove to dry clothes and cook a hot meal.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47An unimaginable comfort on an open boat.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51- Cullen Skink today.- Cullen Skink.
0:22:51 > 0:22:55A very traditional dish, made with haddock.
0:22:55 > 0:23:00On longer trips, the fishermen would cook for themselves as they do on modern trawlers.
0:23:00 > 0:23:06But if the men were out on a shorter trip, food was left to the wives, who would prepare what I can only
0:23:06 > 0:23:10describe as a 19th-century packed lunch. Is this an original one?
0:23:10 > 0:23:14This is an original one. See inside here we have
0:23:14 > 0:23:18all the provisions you'd need for a night at sea.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23Butter and goats cheese, cheddar,
0:23:23 > 0:23:28boiled eggs, oat cakes, fruit loaf.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32- Might have a go on that one myself. - Yeah, I think you should.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40- That was top notch.- Bit of fruit loaf.- That'll stick to your ribs.
0:23:40 > 0:23:45- And, of course, something to drink. - A nice bottle of beer.
0:23:45 > 0:23:46But look at the label,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50it's got a picture of a minister holding a prayer book open.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54- What's that all about? - Well, the guys were going to sea,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58- and it was quite comforting to have something to drink with them.- Yes.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02But the social impact of that on those small communities was often
0:24:02 > 0:24:06not good, and as a consequence you got a strong temperance movement developing.
0:24:06 > 0:24:12And I think this is a wonderful example of a brewer having a marketing solution to the problem.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15"It may be beer, but it's the ministers beer!"
0:24:15 > 0:24:18That's right, isn't it great. Send for the minister!
0:24:18 > 0:24:21- Well, it's a shame it's all been drunk, Robert.- Well, yes, it is.
0:24:21 > 0:24:27Warmed and fed, the men were now much better prepared for the long haul that lay ahead.
0:24:27 > 0:24:32A six-hour shift that on a good day could bring in over ten tonnes of herring.
0:24:34 > 0:24:37Hauling this lot in by hand would be impossible.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43But with the steam capstan pressed into service once again, a job that would have taken an army, could now
0:24:43 > 0:24:47be tackled by one man maintaining a gentle pull on the end of a rope.
0:24:49 > 0:24:53The capstan became known as the iron man of the seas.
0:24:56 > 0:25:03Fifies like Reaper transformed what had once been subsistence fishing into an international trade.
0:25:07 > 0:25:14By 1913, Scotland was exporting 2.5 million barrels of herring all over Europe each year.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20Ultimately, the sea just couldn't keep up.
0:25:20 > 0:25:25Under the onslaught of these bigger boats, and the steam drifters that followed them,
0:25:25 > 0:25:33fish stocks started to dwindle. Today, numbers are a fraction of those once fished by the Reaper.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35Nothing in the nets yet, Robert?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Nothing's parted either, which is good.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40It'd be a noble sight if it was coming over...
0:25:40 > 0:25:44- Shining with silver. - ..with silver herring.
0:25:44 > 0:25:47I think the best we can hope for today is some mackerel.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51A couple of mackerel for our breakfast tomorrow!
0:25:51 > 0:25:55When the Reaper fished, the seas were full of herring.
0:25:55 > 0:26:00And full to the gunnels, it was time to set both sails and crack on for home.
0:26:07 > 0:26:13From humble beginnings, the Scots fishermen had built a boat that mastered the sea.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21The sheer ease with which this great big boat is just flying
0:26:21 > 0:26:24across the Firth of Forth, we're just scuttling along.
0:26:24 > 0:26:29There wasn't a steam drifter, there wasn't a steam-powered coaster,
0:26:29 > 0:26:33there was nothing under power that could get anywhere near this.
0:26:33 > 0:26:37And this is what let her get out to the fishing grounds, do her job
0:26:37 > 0:26:40and then get back again, before the herring spoiled.
0:26:47 > 0:26:53And it's all so lo-tech, these sails are so simple,
0:26:53 > 0:26:55and they're lifting the boat.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00It's this feeling she's being lifted, there's a feeling of weightlessness about her.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03It's rather ethereal, actually. Sailing on a big lugger.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07You should try it.
0:27:34 > 0:27:37Today, the herring might have all but gone,
0:27:37 > 0:27:41but the memory of those hard, brave men who fished them, lives on.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50If you're lucky you might still find a few old salts that remember the songs
0:27:50 > 0:27:53the fishermen sang as the nets came in.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57# Up jumped the herring The king of the shoal
0:27:57 > 0:28:01# And he said You'd be far better off on the dole
0:28:01 > 0:28:05# In this windy old weather Stormy old weather
0:28:05 > 0:28:08# When the wind blows We'll all be...#
0:28:08 > 0:28:11A remarkable bunch, your Scottish fishermen.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14Forced from the land onto the cruellest of seas,
0:28:14 > 0:28:19it took a lot of valiant men's lives to bring about the development of a boat this good.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23And I can't think of a more fitting testimony to their memory
0:28:23 > 0:28:27than the sight of the Reaper driving hard for home.
0:28:27 > 0:28:30A genuinely amazing boat.
0:28:50 > 0:28:53Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:53 > 0:28:57E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk