0:00:02 > 0:00:08Britain is an island surrounded by a cold and unforgiving sea.
0:00:08 > 0:00:11For centuries it protected us from attack.
0:00:11 > 0:00:17But to prosper and thrive we 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 she needed good boats to take them there.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29I've spent my life at sea.
0:00:29 > 0:00:34Now I'm going to take passage on six boats that, together, tell the story of modern Britain.
0:00:34 > 0:00:42Built for exploration, war, fishing, 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 > 0:00:54This time I'm going to be sailing aboard a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.
0:00:54 > 0:01:00By the mid 19th Century, the country was at the centre of a shipping network that spanned the globe.
0:01:00 > 0:01:04But to arrive safely in harbour, these ships needed pilots
0:01:04 > 0:01:09to guide them on the last, most dangerous leg of their journey.
0:01:09 > 0:01:14The Bristol Channel ports were of central importance and the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter
0:01:14 > 0:01:21was uniquely adapted to operate off a coastline that was powering not just Britain, but the world.
0:01:21 > 0:01:25This is the boat that powered it all.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42The Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter is among
0:01:42 > 0:01:48the most charismatic of all Britain's sailing vessels.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51Fast, powerful, able to withstand any weather,
0:01:51 > 0:01:55she took the pilots out to the ships coming up the Bristol Channel,
0:01:55 > 0:02:00which is a notoriously difficult stretch of water, at a time when the British Empire really needed them.
0:02:00 > 0:02:04Without pilots there was going to be no shipping.
0:02:04 > 0:02:06No shipping, no British Empire.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14The Bristol Channel has always been one of Britain's most important ocean highways.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18A vital trading centre for ships arriving from the West.
0:02:18 > 0:02:23Hello, good morning, gentlemen. This is 7VTS, and the orders at 0900...
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Today, any vessel entering the channel
0:02:26 > 0:02:29is meticulously checked and identified before a pilot is put on board.
0:02:29 > 0:02:35He guides the ship on what is potentially the most dangerous leg of her journey -
0:02:35 > 0:02:39the final trip from the open sea into harbour.
0:02:41 > 0:02:48But in the 19th Century the Bristol Channel had all the makings of a graveyard for incoming vessels.
0:02:50 > 0:02:53Ships were bigger than ever before and one wrong step could mean
0:02:53 > 0:02:59the loss of expensive cargo or, worse, loss of life.
0:02:59 > 0:03:08To navigate these challenging waters required local knowledge, provided by a local expert - the pilot.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14Self-employed and aggressively independent, the pilots were paid only when by the ships they boarded.
0:03:14 > 0:03:19Their life was a constant battle to be the first pilot out there.
0:03:19 > 0:03:27To make sure you won that race, you needed a boat that was seaworthy, safe and, above all, fast.
0:03:28 > 0:03:33It was a cut-throat business on what could often be a desperate stretch of water.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35Only one boat was up to the job...
0:03:37 > 0:03:40The Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44This boat is a true thoroughbred.
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Her design evolved from thousands of hours at sea.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51The perfect combination of form and function
0:03:51 > 0:03:55that many say hasn't been bettered by any sailing boat since.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01But this is definitely not a gentleman's yacht.
0:04:01 > 0:04:06She's a working boat, designed for working seamen.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10Men like Lewis Alexander, who stopped at nothing to make sure
0:04:10 > 0:04:15his pilot cutter was the fastest, most radical boat that could be built.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23But you can't fully understand the world of the Pilot Cutter
0:04:23 > 0:04:26until you've grasped the essence of the waters they had to work.
0:04:30 > 0:04:36Even on a calm day, the tidal forces of the Bristol Channel are deceptively powerful.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41To find out more I've come to meet local sailor Rob Salvidge,
0:04:41 > 0:04:44a man who knows the sea here as well as anyone.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50Two days after a full moon you've got big spring tides.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54A massive swirling of unimaginable amounts of water coming
0:04:54 > 0:04:57in and out of the Bristol Channel and it's all got to go somewhere.
0:04:57 > 0:05:03And it's what it does and where it goes and how it corresponds with the underlying contours
0:05:03 > 0:05:07that is the key and the secret to understanding what the tides are here
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and how they can be either your friend or your enemy.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14Its not difficult to understand why this tide is one of the largest in the world
0:05:14 > 0:05:17when you look at the geography of where we are.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22The two shorelines funnel the Atlantic into a bottleneck up by Bristol.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25It comes in from over here.
0:05:25 > 0:05:27Here it is. Here's the tide coming in.
0:05:27 > 0:05:34And it reaches a point here between the West Coast of Wales and Cornwall down there.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Once it gets here it can't stop because there's loads more water behind it.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40So it keeps going, keeps going and funnels right the way up.
0:05:40 > 0:05:45And it's going sweeping right up the River Severn, up past Gloucester, up towards Worcester,
0:05:45 > 0:05:49until it's got nowhere else to go and then the height just keeps rising and rising and rising.
0:05:51 > 0:05:56The tide rises and falls so fast that what looks like open water one minute
0:05:56 > 0:06:00can turn into a sandbank or rocky shoal the next. Lurking.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Ready to wreck your ship.
0:06:03 > 0:06:08So the rock is virtually dry when the tide's out and then there's 42 feet of water.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10And that's all got to appear here.
0:06:10 > 0:06:14And imagine that expanded across the whole width of the Channel.
0:06:14 > 0:06:19It's all got to appear from nothing to that in the space of about five and a half hours.
0:06:19 > 0:06:27What this means is that with every tide more than 13 billion tonnes of water pour into the Bristol Channel,
0:06:27 > 0:06:30only to be flushed out again six hours later.
0:06:30 > 0:06:36But those 13 billion tonnes aren't just moving up and down, they're roaring along, too.
0:06:36 > 0:06:41Veritable torrents, often moving faster than a boat can sail.
0:06:43 > 0:06:49And those tides could spell catastrophe for any vessel inbound to Bristol, Cardiff
0:06:49 > 0:06:51or any other port around here.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56No mater if you'd sailed your ship safely from America or Australia,
0:06:56 > 0:07:02it was when the waters narrowed into the Bristol Channel and the tides really began to rumble
0:07:02 > 0:07:08that danger lurked...and that was when you needed a pilot, a local man to show the way.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14So what sort of person makes a good pilot?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19For John Rich, piloting runs deep in his veins.
0:07:19 > 0:07:23Tom! Nice to see you.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'It goes back more than 3 generations to the days when his great grandfather
0:07:26 > 0:07:30'sailed the magnificent pilot cutters.'
0:07:30 > 0:07:31Oh, my goodness!
0:07:31 > 0:07:33Well, well, that was your granddad's boat?
0:07:33 > 0:07:35She was...yes.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40Today John's retired, but he served for 30 years as a Bristol Channel pilot
0:07:40 > 0:07:43on modern diesel-powered pilot boats.
0:07:43 > 0:07:47To pass for his license, he had to know that he could successfully
0:07:47 > 0:07:53navigate any ship, from a super tanker to a nuclear submarine without a second thought...
0:07:53 > 0:07:59and whatever ship he was boarding, egos had to be set aside.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03The pilot has complete charge of the navigation and is totally responsible
0:08:03 > 0:08:09for anything that happens to that vessel between the time he boards and the captain discharges him.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13I piloted around about 2,000 ships.
0:08:13 > 0:08:21I think on only three occasions, I can recall having any problem at all with the captain.
0:08:21 > 0:08:27But at any time in the channel he could say, "No, pilot, I don't like the way you're doing this."
0:08:27 > 0:08:28"Give me your note,
0:08:28 > 0:08:30"I'm discharging you".
0:08:30 > 0:08:33Then his ship was deemed unseaworthy.
0:08:33 > 0:08:39But so severe is the Bristol Channel tide that pilots were very often greeted with huge relief.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44I had one Greek and he was nearly in tears.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49And I said, "What's the problem"? This was in the early 1960s.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52He had a wartime chart, 1945.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54- Oh, my goodness.- That's all he had.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58All the buoys had changed. The lights had changed.
0:08:58 > 0:09:00He said, "It's a terrible Channel port..."
0:09:00 > 0:09:03And he hugged me!
0:09:03 > 0:09:05"God I'm glad to see you, pilot.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07"This is a terrible channel."
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Meeting John has given me a real insight into the job of piloting.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16But if it was tough when John was doing it on a modern boat,
0:09:16 > 0:09:20it was even tougher back in the age of sail.
0:09:20 > 0:09:26And for hundreds of years pilots were striving to develop the perfect boat for the job.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32There have been pilots on the Bristol Channel since records began.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37And like most places, in the early days, the guys didn't have specially-built boats.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39They used whatever they had.
0:09:39 > 0:09:46And in this book there's a picture of the sort of boats pilots were using all the way around the UK.
0:09:47 > 0:09:50This is a general purpose sort of boat, probably did a bit of fishing,
0:09:50 > 0:09:54four honest longshoremen there, all of them capable of doing the job.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59But when you look at what happened to her in heavy seas, you can see
0:09:59 > 0:10:02that there was a limit to what you could do with a boat like that.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05She didn't have a deck you see, she was open,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09which made her great for a bit of inshore fishing, but not much good for standing out at sea
0:10:09 > 0:10:13in the Bristol Channel on a nasty night in a gale of wind with breaking water.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16It was clear, as trade increased, they were going to need a better boat.
0:10:18 > 0:10:23By the beginning of the 19th century, the volume of shipping into the Bristol Channel
0:10:23 > 0:10:26was increasing rapidly as the industrial revolution gained momentum.
0:10:26 > 0:10:31Now pilot boats needed to be able to put further out to sea in any weather.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35Slowly, the form of the boats began to improve.
0:10:37 > 0:10:43We've got a lines plan here of one of the boats that was operating round about 1800.
0:10:43 > 0:10:49The run, the way the water pours off the stern of the boat is...Well, it's a bit messy, quite honestly.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51It's not going to be fast, this boat.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55But she does look as if she's going to be comfortable. She's got a deck on her.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00She's not really built for speed but she looks seaworthy and solid.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05As commerce in the Channel increased, so did the competition between pilots.
0:11:05 > 0:11:11To beat their fellows out to the ships, pilots were constantly developing faster, more able boats.
0:11:11 > 0:11:18The competition was hotting up and to keep your nose ahead in the endless race to the shipping lanes,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21performance was the key.
0:11:21 > 0:11:26By the end of the 19th century, through a process of continual evolution and improvement,
0:11:26 > 0:11:29the pilots had come up with the perfect boat for the job,
0:11:29 > 0:11:33the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.
0:11:33 > 0:11:35Absolute perfection on the water.
0:11:35 > 0:11:38And there was nothing like her out there at all.
0:11:38 > 0:11:43If we look at her here we can she she has a fine high bow,
0:11:43 > 0:11:46which is going to push the seas aside.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47The entry is now lean.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50She can work to windward. Look at this sail.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53There's many a yacht today can't stow a sail like that.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57Those guys have got real pride in this vessel.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59She's so well-designed and so perfectly balanced
0:11:59 > 0:12:01that there's nobody at the helm, look.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05She's sailing herself, the guys are up at the mast attending to the rig.
0:12:05 > 0:12:08Getting the sails on.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12There were no prizes for second place in pilotage and the owner of this boat knew
0:12:12 > 0:12:18that he could go out to sea, spread his canvas and thrash any of the boats that had come before him.
0:12:18 > 0:12:22He was going to be out there to windward, picking off the prime ships
0:12:22 > 0:12:25and coming home with his pockets full of money.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33But even with the essential parameters in place, the process of development never stopped
0:12:33 > 0:12:38as pilots fought to gain the tiniest advantage over their rivals.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42And in this shed, undergoing restoration is the best of the lot,
0:12:42 > 0:12:47the fastest pilot cutter ever built - Kindly Light.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Here she is - Kindly Light.
0:12:53 > 0:12:59Beyond argument, the fastest Pilot Cutter that ever sailed the waters of the Bristol Channel.
0:12:59 > 0:13:01And when you look at her, you can see why.
0:13:03 > 0:13:10Built in 1911, Kindly Light is the most perfect example of everything that makes pilot cutters so special.
0:13:10 > 0:13:1753 feet of grace and power, that all begins under the water in her revolutionary hull.
0:13:18 > 0:13:25A typical, middle-of-the-road pilot cutter actually had quite a, what we call a slack mid ships section.
0:13:25 > 0:13:27If you looked at her from the bow towards where I am,
0:13:27 > 0:13:32you would see a boat that was that sort of shape with a little bit of tip right at the bottom.
0:13:33 > 0:13:37Look at this! It's like a wineglass all the way.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39Dropping dead to the keel.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41And swelling out here.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44Absolutely sexy shape.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46And that carries on right to the stern.
0:13:46 > 0:13:51And if you look at her, looking towards the bow, this hollow shape goes all the way to the stem.
0:13:51 > 0:13:56This is so radical she could have shown the yachts of her day a thing or two.
0:13:57 > 0:14:01With her athletic lines and deep keel, her pilot had cracked
0:14:01 > 0:14:05the perfect combination of speed and seaworthiness.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09A boat that could sail fast in even the roughest conditions.
0:14:09 > 0:14:17On deck, the same attention to detail and adaptation to a working life at sea are just as evident.
0:14:17 > 0:14:23Staunchly constructed and ruthlessly efficient, there isn't a single weak link or unnecessary component
0:14:23 > 0:14:26anywhere on board.
0:14:26 > 0:14:30I really can't think of any boat that is better set up for short-handed sailing
0:14:30 > 0:14:33than one of these pilot cutters.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35All you need is to hand.
0:14:35 > 0:14:38Your tiller for steering the boat.
0:14:38 > 0:14:40If she makes water,
0:14:40 > 0:14:43your pump is right here.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47And if you want to drop the mainsail in a hurry to slow the boat down or stop her,
0:14:47 > 0:14:49it's made fast right here on these posts.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53All done by one man from here.
0:14:53 > 0:14:58The product of generations of working seamen just developing and developing
0:14:58 > 0:15:01until they come up with something that is near perfection.
0:15:03 > 0:15:09All pilot cutters were good, but the reason why Kindly Light is so special comes down to her owner.
0:15:09 > 0:15:14He was a great seamen but also a canny businessman
0:15:14 > 0:15:20and he knew that if he built the quickest boat he'd beat his fellow pilots out to the biggest ships.
0:15:20 > 0:15:25His name was Lewis Alexander, the most successful pilot of them all.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30Lewis Alexander paid £500 for this boat.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34That's 40% more than the average pilot cutter of this era.
0:15:34 > 0:15:39I suppose if you commissioned one today you wouldn't see much change out of £750,000.
0:15:39 > 0:15:44It's a huge investment for a working man, but the rewards were big.
0:15:44 > 0:15:50In one year this boat turned over £1,500 -
0:15:50 > 0:15:56a huge return on the investment and more money than the average working man was going to see in a lifetime.
0:15:58 > 0:16:03For Lewis Alexander and Kindly Light, it was boom time.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07For centuries, Bristol had been the dominant port in the area.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10But as the industrial revolution got into full swing,
0:16:10 > 0:16:14other ports in the Channel grew to cope with the relentless demand.
0:16:16 > 0:16:21By the mid 19th century, a new trade was becoming established and it wasn't centred in Bristol.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24It was here in South Wales.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30And this new trade was about to change the life of the Bristol Channel pilots for ever.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39This is a lump of Welsh steam coal from the Rhondda.
0:16:39 > 0:16:45The Rhondda isn't very far from the coast and, when the world became hungry for this product,
0:16:45 > 0:16:49it was here in Barry that the export trade really took off.
0:16:49 > 0:16:55In 1881 Barry had been a sleepy village of 85 souls.
0:16:56 > 0:17:0030 years later it became the centre of a shipping network
0:17:00 > 0:17:05spanning the world, exporting over 11 million tonnes of coal a year.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09Pilots had never been in greater demand.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14And Lewis Alexander was determined to exploit this opportunity,
0:17:14 > 0:17:17backing his faith in his boat no matter what the weather.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24'It oft times happened that the pilot when he got alongside
0:17:24 > 0:17:28'the ship he couldn't get back to the pilot cutter.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34'On one occasion I, myself, was boarding a Spanish steamer off to Poland,
0:17:34 > 0:17:36'rowing very hard.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40'Now the sea was sweeping the plough
0:17:40 > 0:17:44'and as I went up the ship bows,
0:17:44 > 0:17:49'it leaned over and threw me into the side.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53'I thought, that's enough of that!'
0:17:53 > 0:17:58Listening to Lewis Alexander's voice from all those years ago gives a sense of life as a pilot.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02But there's a man in Barry who actually met him.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06John Hart, for years coxswain of the Barry Lifeboat.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08Did you actually meet Lewis?
0:18:08 > 0:18:13Well, I was in his presence. But I wouldn't have dared speak to him or anything like that.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15So what sort of man was Lewis?
0:18:15 > 0:18:17He was very hard-working.
0:18:17 > 0:18:19Deeply religious.
0:18:19 > 0:18:24Would never work on a Sunday... and he would never sail on a Sunday.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26He might be at sea on a Sunday, but he would never sail on a Sunday.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31The blokes who worked for him worked hard but got well paid.
0:18:31 > 0:18:36When he was a young pilot he invested in the best boat he could buy.
0:18:36 > 0:18:41He paid almost twice as much for his boat as anyone else at the time. Yeah, he was a self-made guy.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47But, for Lewis, being first out to any old ship wasn't enough.
0:18:47 > 0:18:52He was only after the big ones, that paid the highest pilot's fees.
0:18:52 > 0:18:54They had very good intelligence and they knew
0:18:54 > 0:18:57something had left Liverpool or something had left London...
0:18:57 > 0:18:59or something had left New York.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02They had a pretty good idea of when it was due
0:19:02 > 0:19:06and they were going seeking for the very one they were looking for. The big ones.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10The big ones were the ships that paid pilots the most.
0:19:10 > 0:19:16And to make sure he was there to meet them, Lewis needed more than a fast boat.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18He needed information.
0:19:18 > 0:19:21He was one of the first man in Barry to own a telephone,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25so he could receive calls from his scouts way down in Devon,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28on the lookout for ships far down to the westward.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31He also paid the local butchers a shilling
0:19:31 > 0:19:38for a list of ships that were coming into harbour that had placed an advanced order for meat.
0:19:41 > 0:19:45Even Alexander's house was built to better his chances.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50Constructed high on the hill, overlooking the Bristol Channel, so he could check on his competitors
0:19:50 > 0:19:53and scan the horizon for incoming ships.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Wow, what a view.
0:20:01 > 0:20:05The pilot would see it all from here. Remarkable.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09And it just shows what a successful pilot could actually do for himself.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12The rewards were huge.
0:20:14 > 0:20:17But all the intelligence in the world wouldn't help
0:20:17 > 0:20:20if you weren't master of your business out on the water.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Ultimately the best pilots were consummate seamen
0:20:23 > 0:20:27who could handle their cutters without a second thought.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It'll be a while before Lewis Alexander's Kindly Light is ready to sail again.
0:20:33 > 0:20:41But today we're in for a real treat, putting to sea on two of the last pilot cutters still sailing.
0:20:43 > 0:20:48Olga, built in 1904, is one of the biggest pilot cutters ever.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52Today, her racing crew of 8 is testimony to how competent
0:20:52 > 0:20:56the two men and an apprentice must have been who sailed her for a living.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04I'm going to be sailing on Cariad with her two dedicated owners, an earlier, smaller cutter.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08And, on paper, a slower boat.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12Putting to sea with the two together will give us a unique insight
0:21:12 > 0:21:18into how these boats evolved and what makes them such special craft out on the water.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22Up we go!
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Faster on the slope, please!
0:21:41 > 0:21:47A pilot cutter in full sail is a glorious sight and, as Olga comes level, we have a fine opportunity
0:21:47 > 0:21:52to size up her sale plan, the engine room of a Pilot Cutter.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56One, two, three, four sails there.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00We've got the jib at the front which is not setting to well at the moment,
0:22:00 > 0:22:01needs a bit of sheet on that.
0:22:01 > 0:22:06We've got the staysail behind it, the mainsail, the great big one
0:22:06 > 0:22:09and up at the top, that's the topsail, that's the technical one.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13Needs a bit of tweaking to get it right, but the boys have got it set a treat. It looks nice.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18Modern performance sailing boats can be twitchy to sail,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22requiring constant attention and tweaking from a large, attentive crew.
0:22:22 > 0:22:27But the great thing about a pilot cutter is that once you've got her set up right
0:22:27 > 0:22:34she'll almost sail herself, making her one of safest and most undemanding boats there is.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37So that is a classic gaff cutter now.
0:22:37 > 0:22:38She's got the lot.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41Every sail that a racing yacht would have carried
0:22:41 > 0:22:45and set on a working boat, on the waters she was built to work in.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51But that's enough about Olga.
0:22:51 > 0:22:56She may be a bigger and faster boat, but there's a vessel out there coming up Channel,
0:22:56 > 0:22:57looking for a pilot.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00I'm going to give it my best shot!
0:23:00 > 0:23:01Who's got the end of the sheet?
0:23:01 > 0:23:04Hang on. Wait! Wait!
0:23:04 > 0:23:07How's the trim up there, Ken? Looking good?
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Left of the main, please. Left of the main!
0:23:10 > 0:23:12Ease the sheet.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16Up, up, up... That's nearly it, now.
0:23:16 > 0:23:18Topsail end. Topsail end.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20Paul, towards you.
0:23:20 > 0:23:24Paul, you've got a bit of a tangle. That's not going to work, hang on.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27You'll have to go underneath that one. I was afraid that would happen.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30- Never mind. We've put on a good showing.- Let's bear away a touch.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Let the jib go.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36Look at her. What a sight! Here we go. We'll see what happens on the next tack.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39We'll have you next time, boys!
0:23:43 > 0:23:46If you were on the slower boat your only hope as a pilot
0:23:46 > 0:23:50was that the bigger, faster cutter would carry on to the West
0:23:50 > 0:23:53towards the open Atlantic, looking for richer pickings.
0:23:53 > 0:23:57In the end there was no way we could beat the Olga...
0:23:57 > 0:24:00Fortunately she has, in fact, sailed on and we've found...
0:24:00 > 0:24:07well not exactly a ship, but a motorboat wanting to be brought into harbour.
0:24:07 > 0:24:09Well there she is.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13She's not quite a 1905 steamer but she's the best we could get.
0:24:13 > 0:24:17But before I can leave the cutter to board the other vessel, we have to
0:24:17 > 0:24:22stop her in her tracks, something modern yachts find difficult.
0:24:22 > 0:24:24For the right boat, it's just a matter
0:24:24 > 0:24:28of setting one sail to drive ahead and the rest to drive her backwards.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31It's called heaving to.
0:24:31 > 0:24:35It's highly desirable and these boats did it to perfection.
0:24:38 > 0:24:43Ken's putting the helm down and absolutely nothing is going to be done to these sails, nothing at all.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46I'm going to duck - the boom's going to come across in a minute
0:24:46 > 0:24:51and when they come across, the ones up front, the headsails are going to come aback.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53They're going to try and push the boat backwards.
0:24:53 > 0:24:57The mainsail is going to try and push her forwards
0:24:57 > 0:25:02and the whole shooting match is going to be balanced by the helm and the boat is going to go nowhere.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04Now's my chance!
0:25:04 > 0:25:07The cutter is holding steady.
0:25:07 > 0:25:13And remember, I'm actually climbing off the cutter here into this tiny little boat.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16Imagine now, I'm doing it on a reasonable day but there's a fair swell running.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21I've got some nerves about it. Imagine I was doing it in force 10 on a filthy black night.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24It doesn't bear thinking about.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28All I have to do is row across as quickly as I can.
0:25:28 > 0:25:34The cutter's crew had to tread a fine line between leaving the pilot with an impossible distance to scull
0:25:34 > 0:25:39or endangering everyone by coming in too close.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Getting this balancing act right required great skill.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47- Here we go.- Welcome aboard. - Thank you very much, Dave.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52- Boarded a ship on the Bristol Channel.- That's fantastic. - Wonderful.
0:25:52 > 0:25:53Well this is alright, isn't it?
0:25:54 > 0:25:58There we are!
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Here's to pilotage and good companions.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09Now the pilot's local knowledge would come into play as he guided the ship to a safe harbour.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14So there you are, that's the lot of a pilot.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16There's my old cutter there.
0:26:16 > 0:26:21Still two, I guess the guys are probably making themselves a cup of tea and then they'll take her in -
0:26:21 > 0:26:23they know I'm coming in pretty quick on this little vessel.
0:26:23 > 0:26:29We've done well. We'll be in, quick turn around and then back out to sea on the ebb tide,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32down to the westwards to see what we can get.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36And then the process will start all over again,
0:26:36 > 0:26:43every day, every week, fleets of ships arrived and left who could not manage without pilots.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46No matter what the weather, these courageous men
0:26:46 > 0:26:52repeatedly put their lives at risk at a time when Britain's trading vessels really needed them.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58So what happened to the pilots and their cutters?
0:26:58 > 0:27:03Well, their fate is tied up with the story of our old friend Lewis Alexander.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06In 1914 many sailors went to war.
0:27:06 > 0:27:12They returned to a world governed by steam and, increasingly, motor ships.
0:27:12 > 0:27:17Changing times had finally put paid to the free market.
0:27:17 > 0:27:21Perhaps the most appropriate epitaph for the pilot was found
0:27:21 > 0:27:28on an otherwise empty sheet of paper on which a pilot had written his objections to this amalgamation.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32He had written only five words -
0:27:32 > 0:27:35'I shall lose my freedom.'
0:27:37 > 0:27:40But while boats come and go, the sea never changes
0:27:40 > 0:27:44and the Bristol channel remains as dangerous as ever.
0:27:44 > 0:27:49Massive diesel engines, radar and GPS have changed a lot of things
0:27:49 > 0:27:52but they have not removed the need for a pilot.
0:27:54 > 0:27:58Today just one pilot boat serves the whole of the Barry area.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Ferrying a team of pilots in and out on a daily basis.
0:28:04 > 0:28:10No-one can question their expertise and the importance of their job, but I can't help thinking that some
0:28:10 > 0:28:16of the romance and free spirit that made the original pilots unique has gone.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22But even if the sailing pilots have disappeared, their legacy
0:28:22 > 0:28:26lives on in the beautiful cutters they left behind.
0:28:26 > 0:28:33Harmonious and supremely capable, they're among the greatest sailing boats ever to work the sea.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:41 > 0:28:44E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk