0:00:02 > 0:00:06We're an island nation drawn to the sea that surrounds us.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08For many, it's a playground.
0:00:10 > 0:00:14For others, it's where we earn our living.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16But the sea is unpredictable.
0:00:16 > 0:00:19It can change in an instant.
0:00:19 > 0:00:23And when accidents happen, they happen very fast.
0:00:23 > 0:00:25The sea is a dangerous place.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28If you don't respect the sea, the sea will bite you.
0:00:28 > 0:00:32There to save our lives is a voluntary army
0:00:32 > 0:00:34of nearly 5,000 ordinary people,
0:00:34 > 0:00:40ready to leave their jobs, their families, to race to our rescue.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45It makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up,
0:00:45 > 0:00:48to know that if it wasn't for you, that person wouldn't be here.
0:00:48 > 0:00:50They rescued me.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54But they also saved a mum, a daughter, a sister, a wife.
0:00:54 > 0:00:57- Oh, my God!- To see someone disappear under the water
0:00:57 > 0:00:58right in front of you...
0:00:58 > 0:01:01is brutal. It's absolutely horrendous.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04Equipped with their own cameras...
0:01:04 > 0:01:07- Is my light flashing?- Yeah. Is mine?
0:01:07 > 0:01:09..the crews give us a unique insight
0:01:09 > 0:01:12into every call-out as only they see it.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16There's another little wave...
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Speeding through the roughest weather,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23searching for people who may only have moments to live.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25Can you still hear me?
0:01:25 > 0:01:29For those who risk their lives, it has become a way of life.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33When those pagers go off, it's life-and-death.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46Lerwick in the Shetland Isles is one of the most remote lifeboat stations
0:01:46 > 0:01:48in the UK.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52Just 400 miles south of the Arctic Circle,
0:01:52 > 0:01:54these islands lie closer to Norway than Aberdeen.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58The hundreds of islets and inlets
0:01:58 > 0:02:01are a haven for sea birds and wildlife,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04but for the lifeboat crew, it can take a lifetime to learn them all.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09Ian moved to Shetland 18 months ago,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12and is still getting his head round his new area.
0:02:12 > 0:02:19This is our patch, and it goes up as far as Muckle Flugga,
0:02:19 > 0:02:24which is the northern part of the Isle of Unst, which is here.
0:02:24 > 0:02:26There are some really bizarre names.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30Fladdibister. Longa Tonga...
0:02:30 > 0:02:33I don't even know if I'm pronouncing half of them right.
0:02:33 > 0:02:38Shetland is part of Scotland, but it doesn't feel like it's Scotland -
0:02:38 > 0:02:40it's very Scandinavian.
0:02:40 > 0:02:44It's the names. It's...the accents.
0:02:46 > 0:02:49I... Sometimes, when some of the crew talk to me,
0:02:49 > 0:02:52I just agree with them cos I don't have a clue what they're saying.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55We go to an island called Whalsay,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and I might as well be in Japan.
0:03:01 > 0:03:04Although one of the remotest parts of the UK,
0:03:04 > 0:03:08Lerwick's thriving fishing industry attracts workers
0:03:08 > 0:03:09from all over Scotland.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12Originally from Orkney,
0:03:12 > 0:03:17fisherman Darren is one of Lerwick's 28 lifeboat volunteers.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19Even though he's from Shetland's closest neighbour,
0:03:19 > 0:03:23the difference in dialects took some getting used to for his fiancee,
0:03:23 > 0:03:24local lass Gemma.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28- Are you going to wipe your mouth? - When me and Dan first met,
0:03:28 > 0:03:30it was a struggle.
0:03:30 > 0:03:31I could hardly understand him.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35But I do now. A lot of my family still struggle.
0:03:35 > 0:03:37I get told I sound Welsh.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39And that I sing when I speak...
0:03:40 > 0:03:44Darren spends up to two weeks at a time working on the Ocean Way -
0:03:44 > 0:03:46one of Shetland's largest trawlers.
0:03:46 > 0:03:50But when he's not at sea, he's ready to answer the pager's call.
0:03:50 > 0:03:53More often than not, the pager will go off when I'm in bed.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Did you not go with odd shoes on one time?
0:03:57 > 0:04:01Yeah. Quite often I appear down at the station with no socks on.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05When Darren gets called out, it makes me nervous.
0:04:05 > 0:04:06It's... I worry.
0:04:06 > 0:04:09No' kennin' what they're going to.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11My family...
0:04:11 > 0:04:13a lot of them are fishermen.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18So you're kind of always aware of what could go wrong.
0:04:22 > 0:04:26When Darren does get two weeks onshore to spend with Gemma,
0:04:26 > 0:04:30there's every chance their time off together will be interrupted
0:04:30 > 0:04:31by the familiar call.
0:04:31 > 0:04:34When the pager first went off, I was sound asleep.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37I was in bed. It was a nice morning.
0:04:37 > 0:04:38The sun was shining.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Not too much wind.
0:04:40 > 0:04:43A nice day for a shout, if there's such a thing.
0:04:43 > 0:04:44SIREN BLARES
0:04:44 > 0:04:46A trawler is in trouble out at sea.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51When I was running into the station, one of the guys was running out.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54And he goes, "It's your boat. It's the Ocean Way."
0:04:55 > 0:04:58So I ran a little bit faster.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09The Lerwick crew are armed with the largest class of boat in the fleet.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Accelerating to a top speed of 25 knots,
0:05:12 > 0:05:16they're heading out to the trawler Darren works on, The Ocean Way.
0:05:16 > 0:05:2025 miles out at sea, she's taking on water.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24I knew exactly who was aboard - my friends, my crewmates...
0:05:26 > 0:05:31If I missed that shout, yeah, I wouldn't have been a very happy boy.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38We went as fast as we could.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42Obviously a boat sinking is never a good thing.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47You want to do the best you can, to save the boat,
0:05:47 > 0:05:48it's their livelihoods as well.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54I phoned the skipper on the way out, just to find out what was happening.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58He seemed reasonably OK.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01I mean, he didn't sound panicked or anything like that.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07At top speed, the Lerwick crew arrive in under an hour.
0:06:07 > 0:06:10A Coastguard search and rescue helicopter and another fishing boat
0:06:10 > 0:06:13are also on the scene.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17The Ocean Way is taking on water through a hole below the waterline.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20She was bringing her fishing gear onboard, when her hull ruptured.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24They're having to use their onboard pumps to bail out the water,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27hoping to stay afloat long enough to get her back to port.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29When we first came alongside the Ocean Way,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32It didn't look like she was... anything wrong, really.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35First we thought, "No, she'll make it." She was doing nine knots.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38To help bail out flooded vessels,
0:06:38 > 0:06:41the lifeboat carries an emergency salvage pump.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Their priority is to get it onboard,
0:06:43 > 0:06:46to help hold back the water and to assess the damage.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50Darren is the obvious choice to go.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Darren knew the boat. He knew the book inside out.
0:06:52 > 0:06:56So he was going to be the one that was going to transfer across
0:06:56 > 0:06:58with the pump, and our crewmen to go and give him a hand.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04It's only really when we got onboard
0:07:04 > 0:07:07and realised you could have either situation.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11There was a lot of water on board already.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13There was a bigger hole than which we thought.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17The pumps weren't working. There was just too much water coming in.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Even with the lifeboat's extra pump
0:07:21 > 0:07:23helping shift up to 800 litres a minute,
0:07:23 > 0:07:25the water's still rising.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32The crew decide to use a further emergency pump,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35carried by the Coastguard's helicopter.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38But this means distancing themselves from the Ocean Way
0:07:38 > 0:07:40while it is winched down to the lifeboat.
0:07:42 > 0:07:43Back on the fishing boat,
0:07:43 > 0:07:47they're losing the race against the incoming flood.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49The water was coming in the scuppers,
0:07:49 > 0:07:52which really means that the water's got nowhere to go.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54It's coming in, but there's nowhere for it to get out.
0:07:56 > 0:08:00I went up to the skipper and said, "It's not going to come back."
0:08:01 > 0:08:04"Even if we got another pump, it's not going to come back."
0:08:04 > 0:08:06That's definitely not good.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08We're going to have to get everybody off.
0:08:10 > 0:08:14Now, nearly a mile away, the lifeboat and Coastguard helicopter
0:08:14 > 0:08:17is still transferring the pump, when the alarm comes in.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20I was getting messages from the fishing boat,
0:08:20 > 0:08:22saying that she's filling up with water,
0:08:22 > 0:08:24she's filling up with water.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28"We are abandoning ship. Get back here and pick up the crew."
0:08:34 > 0:08:37We gunned it back to the Ocean Way.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44By the time the lifeboat had had come alongside,
0:08:44 > 0:08:46then we were going vertical all the time.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54Yes, you're being thrown at all kinds of angles when you're at sea,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57but this was very, very different.
0:08:59 > 0:09:02The group get in as close as they can to pick up Darren
0:09:02 > 0:09:04and the fishermen.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06But the fishing boat is heading under, fast.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Get in too close, and she could take the lifeboat with her.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17It was a level where she would have,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21if we did hit it, it would puncture us under the waterline,
0:09:21 > 0:09:25which would have meant then we would have been a second casualty.
0:09:25 > 0:09:27So, we could get right alongside...
0:09:28 > 0:09:32For the five fishermen and two lifeboat volunteers on board,
0:09:32 > 0:09:34time and options are running out.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38The boys are on the side of the boat, and in no time at all,
0:09:38 > 0:09:39the water's around their feet.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45I'd shout to the boys, "Jump in the water."
0:09:50 > 0:09:53The engine was stopped by that time. So it was kind of eerily silent.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58The sounds of me shouting, "Jump overboard. Jump overboard."
0:10:00 > 0:10:02If we didn't jump,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05then we were either going to get sucked in or fall into the rigging
0:10:05 > 0:10:07or get trapped or something.
0:10:09 > 0:10:15The skipper and the engineer, they sort of went up forward on the boat,
0:10:15 > 0:10:19to jump from there, but I was too busy shouting at them to jump
0:10:19 > 0:10:22that I didn't notice that the water was almost coming up to me.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25So it was time I jumped as well.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30Desperately trying to avoid being caught in the wreckage and dragged
0:10:30 > 0:10:33under, seven men are in the water,
0:10:33 > 0:10:38between the sinking 270-tonne trawler and the 42-tonne lifeboat.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41We were trying to back away as much as we could.
0:10:41 > 0:10:45With two boats so close together, it's the fact that a swell could
0:10:45 > 0:10:47pick one boat up and push us together,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50and if we've got guys in the water there, one of them could be crushed.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55The skipper, he was kind of struggling a bit.
0:10:55 > 0:10:57So I swam over to him.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59For a while,
0:10:59 > 0:11:02as hard as we were swimming, we couldn't get away from the boat.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08It felt more like the boat was chasing us.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13My heart's going like a machinegun.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20Swimming back as fast as we can and not making any headway at all.
0:11:23 > 0:11:27It's only your head above water, and you're seeing all this steel
0:11:27 > 0:11:29coming towards you, that you have no control over.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32The best you can hope for is just keep swimming.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39Just adrenaline that day was pounding.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41I mean, everything happened so fast.
0:11:43 > 0:11:47I mean, we were just pulling guys out of the water.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49It's like they were rag dolls, near enough.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51We were just pulling them out.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05I was bending down picking up two guys and I looked around to see
0:12:05 > 0:12:08where the boat was going, and it was just under the water.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10It just happened so fast.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14But it was just... I was pretty shocked...
0:12:15 > 0:12:17..to see that happen.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Never good watching a boat sink.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28To see someone's livelihood, it's guys' wages, it's an income.
0:12:30 > 0:12:32I'd never seen a boat sink before.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36Obviously, it's the boat I work on and a good boat.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38She's seen us through a lot of weather.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41I never thought for one minute she'd go down.
0:12:49 > 0:12:53As the Ocean Way joins the hundreds of other wrecks that litter
0:12:53 > 0:12:56the Shetland seabed, her five crew members arrive home
0:12:56 > 0:12:59wet and exhausted, but otherwise unharmed.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03The crew were very shaken up.
0:13:04 > 0:13:08I think the skipper was a little more shell-shocked than anybody,
0:13:08 > 0:13:10but that's quite understandable.
0:13:12 > 0:13:14I think we were all just happy, relieved.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18A boat's replaceable.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20Lives are not.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30SIREN BLARES
0:13:33 > 0:13:36From the pager's call to launching on service,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38it takes on average under ten minutes
0:13:38 > 0:13:40for a lifeboat to be on the water.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44The volunteer crews know timing is everything,
0:13:44 > 0:13:48and any delay can mean the difference between life and death.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50Well, they say time and tide waits for no-one.
0:13:50 > 0:13:53I think that's especially important in the RNLI.
0:13:53 > 0:13:55Obviously time is...
0:13:55 > 0:13:58why we do it. You know, the shorter the time,
0:13:58 > 0:14:02the better chance of survival, with most casualties.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05Every second is precious.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09Especially, say, if you had someone in the water at that time,
0:14:09 > 0:14:10you have minutes.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15Time-critical shouts, you feel that time is chasing you.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18I've never had the time run out.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21It's come close on a couple of occasions and you think,
0:14:21 > 0:14:24five, ten minutes more, and that would have been a different story.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29I have lost count of the number of people
0:14:29 > 0:14:31I have pulled out of the water.
0:14:31 > 0:14:35But I do remember those relatively few cases
0:14:35 > 0:14:37where we were too late.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41To see someone disappear under the water right in front of you,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44where three, four seconds earlier,
0:14:44 > 0:14:48you probably could have effected a rescue, is brutal.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51It's absolutely horrendous. And there's nothing you can do about it.
0:14:51 > 0:14:56You beat yourself up, but there's nothing you can do, so, yeah,
0:14:56 > 0:14:59very much our goal to get there in good time.
0:15:09 > 0:15:12When it comes to traditional British seaside fun,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15it doesn't get much better than here at Weston-Super-Mare.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18Since Victorian times, any sunny summer's day
0:15:18 > 0:15:21sees the population explode with day-trippers.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24The coastline is a bit weird,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27because the tide goes out a long way.
0:15:28 > 0:15:33But it's great, you know. We've got long beaches, lots of mud, islands.
0:15:33 > 0:15:35I love it round here.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38I think everybody loves to go to a seaside.
0:15:38 > 0:15:42And if the tide's not there, they'll walk out however far it is,
0:15:42 > 0:15:44so they can have a little paddle.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47Unfortunately, some people get caught out that way.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50At the mouth of the Severn Estuary,
0:15:50 > 0:15:53Weston is sheltered from the worst of the weather coming in from the
0:15:53 > 0:15:57Atlantic. But its position here creates other dangers.
0:15:58 > 0:16:01As the sea is funnelled up the narrow Bristol Channel,
0:16:01 > 0:16:05it pours in across Weston's gently shelving foreshore,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09creating one of the fastest-flowing tides in the world.
0:16:09 > 0:16:10For the crew stationed here,
0:16:10 > 0:16:12it means most shouts are a race to beat it.
0:16:14 > 0:16:19The biggest danger is the speed that the tide comes in.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I mean, I remember being told this as a kid, you can't outrun the tide.
0:16:23 > 0:16:25What a ridiculous thing to say - you can't outrun the tide.
0:16:25 > 0:16:29Of course you can outrun the tide, it's just the water, just the sea.
0:16:29 > 0:16:33In Weston, you cannot outrun the tide.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37Mother Nature, she is just incredible.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39And the way you can see it so clearly in Weston.
0:16:40 > 0:16:45It's like the sea is just coming out of a hose,
0:16:45 > 0:16:48and so it will knock you off your feet, it will be relentless.
0:16:48 > 0:16:50It just doesn't stop.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52You can't outrun the tide.
0:16:53 > 0:16:57Weston's first lifeboat station now lies abandoned
0:16:57 > 0:17:00at the end of the derelict Birnbeck Pier.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02Once a popular tourist promenade,
0:17:02 > 0:17:08the pier is now a trap for those unwary, unwise or unlucky enough
0:17:08 > 0:17:10to be caught out by the tide.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12Under the rotting boards,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14the Bristol Channel is forced even faster
0:17:14 > 0:17:16through the gap under the pier.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20The dangers of swimming and playing around Birnbeck Island
0:17:20 > 0:17:23is that when the tide's coming in or going out,
0:17:23 > 0:17:25it can run up to five to six knots round that area.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28It's a very fast moving body of water there,
0:17:28 > 0:17:30and it can take you away very quickly.
0:17:32 > 0:17:36The dangers of those waters were brought home a few years ago.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Two young lads had gone swimming.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42They got into difficulties, got swept away with the current.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45We could hear them when we were running across the pier
0:17:45 > 0:17:48- to get the boats. - We could hear them crying for help.
0:17:50 > 0:17:53When we launched, we literally went out half a mile into the bay,
0:17:53 > 0:17:56switched off the engines and shouted and never heard a soul.
0:18:00 > 0:18:02The cries had gone.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04Sadly, we couldn't find them.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08The water's that silty,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10once something or somebody goes
0:18:10 > 0:18:14below the surface a couple of inches, we just can't see them.
0:18:14 > 0:18:16Um, they drowned, unfortunately.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23Every second can count to save a life.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28We were literally a minute, two minutes away from saving two lives,
0:18:28 > 0:18:30which unfortunately we didn't.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35Another summer season at Weston.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37The crowds have arrived along with the sunshine.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39SIREN BLARES
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Cries for help have again been heard from under Birnbeck Pier.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Two people have been caught by the fast-rising water.
0:18:49 > 0:18:52The crew begin their race against the tide.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55When I hear about people in the water in Birnbeck Pier,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58I think we have got to get there,
0:18:58 > 0:19:01like, five minutes ago.
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Definitely a sense of emergency to get out there.
0:19:07 > 0:19:08The tide was on the flood.
0:19:08 > 0:19:11It started moving and I knew it was only going to get faster and faster
0:19:11 > 0:19:15for the next two hours, so time is at the essence then.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18The main concern for the casualty is are they still there,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21are they still holding on to the legs?
0:19:21 > 0:19:23One, you've got that force of water coming on to you.
0:19:23 > 0:19:26Cold water.
0:19:26 > 0:19:27How long do you cling on for?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30How long do you keep your head above the water?
0:19:32 > 0:19:34As they approach the pier, the crew spot two figures.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40They are standing on horizontal struts on the metal legs.
0:19:40 > 0:19:43Either side of them, the Channel is already several feet deep
0:19:43 > 0:19:45and flowing fast.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47As we got closer and closer,
0:19:47 > 0:19:51I was just looking at how fast that water was going and I'm... You know,
0:19:51 > 0:19:55they were in the worst possible place at the worst possible time.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59They are five minutes away from not being able to stand on anything.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10Trying to get the boat in position for the rescue.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13The way the water was, there was a real risk the boat could have been
0:20:13 > 0:20:16sucked into the pier, and if that had happened,
0:20:16 > 0:20:19then we were all over the side, and that's not a place to be.
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Helmsman Terry has to approach against the tide
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and hold the boat steady with the power of the engine.
0:20:31 > 0:20:34So close to the safety of the boat,
0:20:34 > 0:20:37the stranded couple are still only one step from danger.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Our main concern was they didn't panic or anything
0:20:42 > 0:20:44when they see the boat coming.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48The worst thing they could do was start moving around
0:20:48 > 0:20:49on the structure.
0:20:53 > 0:20:54Or even jump into the water.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57We don't want people to do that.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Some people jump in the water and they don't come back up.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16They really had started to panic and you know, I remember,
0:21:16 > 0:21:19even though we were telling them, "Stay where you are,
0:21:19 > 0:21:22"stay where you are," they couldn't hear us, they weren't listening.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31I suppose, for me, I realised just how scared they were then.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Lift your hand.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36- Onto the nut.- Come under? - Come under, mate, that's it.
0:21:38 > 0:21:39Get me hand?
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Brilliant.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49It was a remarkably quick rescue. You know? It was textbook.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12Today, time was on the side of the lifeboat crew,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15and two more lives have been saved from the Weston tides.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19I think they definitely realised how lucky they'd been.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27The amount of water that was running through that pier. If they had
0:22:27 > 0:22:29let go, and they had got swept away, ten minutes longer,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31could have been a different story.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33You know, ten minutes later - that's one traffic jam
0:22:33 > 0:22:35on the way to the lifeboat station -
0:22:35 > 0:22:37that's all that is. They were incredibly lucky that day.
0:22:41 > 0:22:45You know, there's a good feeling about the station when that happens.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47We kind of linger.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49You kind of don't want to go home.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54You want to stay with the guys and you want to be...kind of together,
0:22:54 > 0:22:56"Let's have another cup of tea, we'll have a cup of tea, shall we,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59"before we go home? Yeah, we'll do that." It was one of those days.
0:22:59 > 0:23:00It was a good day.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09In the north-east, Hartlepool was once a fishing village.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13There has been a lifeboat stationed here for over 150 years.
0:23:13 > 0:23:17To keep it going, they are always on the lookout for new recruits.
0:23:17 > 0:23:22So when you use that, would you take the bearing out and write it down?
0:23:22 > 0:23:2518-year-old Kyle has recently signed up as a volunteer.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31Before I started at the lifeboat, I had no experience at sea.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35I'd maybe been on a boat once or twice on holiday, things like that.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37Steve is in Norfolk. So if you click on...
0:23:37 > 0:23:40- VOICEOVER:- At the minute, I've got everything to learn, I suppose.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42That will tell us how close we're going to get.
0:23:42 > 0:23:46It's very hard with navigation and things like that.
0:23:46 > 0:23:48It's crazy how much there is to learn.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Keep off the green. That's usually a good way of putting it!
0:23:53 > 0:23:55If it's green, we don't want to go there.
0:23:55 > 0:23:57I think I can cope quite well under pressure,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00but I don't know if I'd be able to deal with something if I'd seen
0:24:00 > 0:24:03something tragic, I don't think I'd be able to deal with that,
0:24:03 > 0:24:05I don't think. I'm quite sensitive, I think.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12A few hundred metres up the coast from the lifeboat station,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14a dinghy has capsized.
0:24:15 > 0:24:17Two men are stranded on the upturned hull.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22One of the first to get kitted up with helmet-camera running is Kyle,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25hoping to get picked for his first-ever shout.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30Thank you. I hadn't actually been on a shout yet before that one,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32so I was very keen on the way to get on there,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35but I was a bit disappointed - I didn't think I was going to get on.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37When we were getting ready for the shout,
0:24:37 > 0:24:40there were a couple of new lads already kitted up.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41Kyle was one of them.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45I literally got two seconds of looking at him, saying, "Yeah, Kyle,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48"grab a life jacket and helmet, you're coming."
0:24:50 > 0:24:53I just thought I wasn't going to be going, so I panicked a bit.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Just after they launch, an urgent update comes in from the coastguard.
0:25:01 > 0:25:03The two men are now off the boat.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06One has managed to swim to shore and safety.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08The other is struggling in the water.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12When you hear a message like that, it always pricks your ears up,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14so to speak, and you suddenly realise this is serious,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16we've got to get there quickly.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19With sea temperatures under 10 degrees,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22survival time in the water could be as little as 15 minutes.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26At the scene, just metres away...
0:25:28 > 0:25:31..passers-by onshore are powerless to help the drowning man.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36A passing boat has managed to get a lifeline to the casualty,
0:25:36 > 0:25:39but under the barrage of waves, their engine cuts out.
0:25:39 > 0:25:42For their own safety, they have to pull back.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46The man's life is now in the hands of the Hartlepool crew.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Novice Kyle's first-ever shout is a race to get to him
0:25:51 > 0:25:54before he succumbs to the sea.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57People in the water, you tend not to take your new crew.
0:26:01 > 0:26:06Certain jobs, you can't afford to have anybody dilly-dally around.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11So you've got to be paying slightly more attention
0:26:11 > 0:26:13to the new guy on the back.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25Up ahead, they spot the casualty motionless in the water.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29He's just feet away from being dashed onto the rocky shore.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Is that someone there, on your bow there?
0:26:33 > 0:26:36Go-ahead, over.
0:26:46 > 0:26:47- VOICEOVER:- He wasn't moving.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49Oh, my God.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51I was definitely panicked when I seen him in the water.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54And I seen... He didn't seem responsive.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05I did have the thought that we've lost him, it's too late.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13Your heart kind of sinks at that moment,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15because you've got there as quickly as you possibly can,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18you've done everything you possibly can to this point.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21So it was quite a deflating moment, really.
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Struggling to get the casualty onboard,
0:27:25 > 0:27:27the crew realise he's tangled in the lifeline.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38I had to cut the line. Straightaway,
0:27:38 > 0:27:41because otherwise we wouldn't be able to pull him out.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45I did sort of prepare myself for what we were going to do
0:27:45 > 0:27:48when we pulled him out. I thought he was dead, I suppose.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50- Kyle?- Yep.
0:27:53 > 0:27:55He looked dead to me.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00It was very scary for a couple of minutes.
0:28:02 > 0:28:04But when we'd actually managed to get him over onto the floor,
0:28:04 > 0:28:06he made a couple of noises.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09That was the big relief for me, when I heard him make a noise.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15Are you all right, buddy?
0:28:15 > 0:28:18The casualty is showing signs of life.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21The crew need to get him to medical attention fast.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25The two men are cousins.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28They were testing repairs to the engine when they were picked up
0:28:28 > 0:28:30by a wave and rolled over.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33The casualty, Richard, stayed with the upturned boat,
0:28:33 > 0:28:35while Jamie managed to swim to shore.
0:28:40 > 0:28:43I didn't get really much chance to think about what was happening
0:28:43 > 0:28:46at the time, it just went that fast, in a split second.
0:28:48 > 0:28:51We were upside down and slammed into the water.
0:28:51 > 0:28:53Capsized.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56The water was instantly freezing.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59I knew straightaway that we were not going to last long out there.
0:29:03 > 0:29:04Richard was really, really
0:29:04 > 0:29:06in a state of panic and shock at the time.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10I wanted to get him on to the boat as quickly as possible,
0:29:10 > 0:29:12get him into a safe place.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16He was trying to keep hold of the boat, the waves were coming,
0:29:16 > 0:29:19knocking us both off, and then I was having to get off, swim about,
0:29:19 > 0:29:23get him onto the boat. Absolutely massive waves breaking off my back.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Once I got Richard secured to the boat,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30the thoughts started going onto myself then,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33bobbing about in the water, realising that my core temperature
0:29:33 > 0:29:34was going to be vastly dropping.
0:29:37 > 0:29:40Thoughts of my children going through my head, my grandchildren.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42I am pretty much the centre of the family.
0:29:42 > 0:29:46I have two deaf sons, one on the autistic spectrum.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50And...I've got to provide for them, really.
0:29:52 > 0:29:54Life basically flashed before my eyes
0:29:54 > 0:29:57and I decided I was going to swim for it.
0:30:03 > 0:30:08I told him just to keep hold of the boat, do not let go of the boat,
0:30:08 > 0:30:11and he would be pretty safe, and that help was on the way.
0:30:11 > 0:30:14And I knew I just had to get swimming
0:30:14 > 0:30:18and try and get back to my wife and kids.
0:30:21 > 0:30:24Really, really hard, one of the worst decisions
0:30:24 > 0:30:26I've had to make in life.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28It was a really hard thing to do.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Richard. All right, mate?
0:30:31 > 0:30:34I know you are cold. We are going to try and get you off the boat,
0:30:34 > 0:30:36all right?
0:30:36 > 0:30:38It was after Jamie swam for shore,
0:30:38 > 0:30:41believing he had left his cousin secure on the boat,
0:30:41 > 0:30:44that waves swept Richard into the sea.
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Have you got the...? Paramedic.
0:30:46 > 0:30:47The paramedic is here.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51Once Jamie left us, I tried keeping my eyes on him,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53to watch him going towards the rocks,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56but he went over two waves and I lost sight of him.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02It was like, everything had gone.
0:31:02 > 0:31:03It was just me.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06It was just me against the sea.
0:31:10 > 0:31:12I just felt like
0:31:12 > 0:31:14I wasn't going to make it at that point.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16I think my body shut down.
0:31:18 > 0:31:21I can't even remember getting pulled aboard.
0:31:21 > 0:31:24Apparently I was on both of the lifeboats that day.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27I can't remember.
0:31:30 > 0:31:33Are you ready? One, two, three.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36I have always liked living,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38but I like it a bit more now.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45I have been thinking about what could have happened,
0:31:45 > 0:31:48and I don't think Richard would have made it at all.
0:31:50 > 0:31:52I don't know where I would have been able to put myself, I don't know
0:31:52 > 0:31:55where I would be now. I wouldn't be in a very good place without him.
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Just ten minutes after launching,
0:31:59 > 0:32:05the crew hand over a recovering Richard to the ambulance team.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10For Kyle, it's a shout he will never forget.
0:32:10 > 0:32:11Where does this go? Back on here?
0:32:11 > 0:32:14That day was great, to help save someone.
0:32:14 > 0:32:16I suppose, if we weren't there,
0:32:16 > 0:32:18I don't know how much longer he would have had.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23On the way back, after we went out for the boat and came back in,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26I thought I won't be able to do this on a day-to-day basis.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29This type of pressure, but...after, it was great.
0:32:31 > 0:32:32This is ours.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35Kyle did brilliantly. He didn't flap,
0:32:35 > 0:32:36he coped well with the pressure.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38Is this the paramedic's?
0:32:38 > 0:32:41Some crew members might wait months or even years to get a call-out
0:32:41 > 0:32:44where they actually make a difference like this,
0:32:44 > 0:32:46and for Kyle to get this as his first call-out,
0:32:46 > 0:32:49I think it is absolutely fantastic how well he did.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Back in his day job, Kyle is a trainee accountant,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03and his biggest deadline is the end of the tax year.
0:33:05 > 0:33:09Kyle has joined an army of almost 5,000 volunteers,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12from butchers to bakers and furniture makers,
0:33:12 > 0:33:16willing to don the familiar yellow suit and transform themselves into
0:33:16 > 0:33:20- life-savers.- When the pager goes off, it flicks a switch,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24I am a different person to the person I am when I am on the shore.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29SIREN BLARES
0:33:29 > 0:33:32You leave your everyday life at home, or at work or whatever,
0:33:32 > 0:33:34and you head to do what you have to do.
0:33:34 > 0:33:36You're a man on a mission.
0:33:37 > 0:33:41You're a man on a rescue mission. Whatever way you want to look at it.
0:33:41 > 0:33:45If somebody is absolutely helpless and you are there to help them...
0:33:45 > 0:33:46WOMAN YELLS
0:33:48 > 0:33:51Not like a superhero, I wouldn't say, but you feel like a hero
0:33:51 > 0:33:52for a split second, I suppose.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57My name is Jeff. We're here to take you home, all right?
0:33:57 > 0:34:00Once you get back to the station, you realise, oh,
0:34:00 > 0:34:02I actually helped somebody there, you know?
0:34:02 > 0:34:05And you are proud, you walk and your head is a little bit higher,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08your chest is a little more puffed out than it maybe normally is,
0:34:08 > 0:34:11and you are walking past people who maybe look at you and think,
0:34:11 > 0:34:14"What's he been up to? Why's he so proud of himself?"
0:34:14 > 0:34:18And then you wander off back to the car and go back to your painting or
0:34:18 > 0:34:23your office work or whatever you were doing before
0:34:23 > 0:34:26the pager went on, and life then goes back to normal.
0:34:29 > 0:34:31Stretching back 200 years,
0:34:31 > 0:34:36switching from the day job to saviour of the high seas in seconds,
0:34:36 > 0:34:37has been a way of life for the crews.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42Dick Evans was a butcher who became
0:34:42 > 0:34:45one of the most decorated lifeboat coxswains.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50Dick was awarded two Gold Medals - the RNLI's Victoria Cross -
0:34:50 > 0:34:55for his part in two daring rescues in hurricane-force winds.
0:34:55 > 0:35:01In 1959, his crew saved eight seamen from the sinking ship Hindlea.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04Eight years later, he helped rescue the crew
0:35:04 > 0:35:07of stricken Greek vessel Nafisporos.
0:35:07 > 0:35:12Today, keeping watch over the wild patch from which he helped rescue so
0:35:12 > 0:35:16many, Dick's statue stands alongside his station, Moelfre,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18on the Isle of Anglesey.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25In Welsh, the name Moelfre means barren hill,
0:35:25 > 0:35:29and the coastline here definitely lives up to its name.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31Exposed windswept clifftops rise
0:35:31 > 0:35:35from a shoreline of inaccessible rocks below.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37We cover from Puffin Island here to the east of Anglesey,
0:35:37 > 0:35:41right the way round the coast to the north, then round Point Lynas.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44It's quite an exposed, dangerous stretch of coastline, really.
0:35:44 > 0:35:45Sharp, jagged rocks,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49but also it's exposed to the point where it's very deep water,
0:35:49 > 0:35:54so you get tidal surges, it's short, choppy seas that catch people out.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57We see a vast range of rescues and rescue situations.
0:35:57 > 0:35:59It's always good to be challenged.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02And the area we work in is a constant challenge
0:36:02 > 0:36:05for various reasons - the wind, the tide, the weather.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08But without a challenge, it would be a boring job, really.
0:36:11 > 0:36:15When the pagers go off at dusk on a blustery winter's day,
0:36:15 > 0:36:17the crew are on high alert.
0:36:17 > 0:36:19SIREN BLARES
0:36:20 > 0:36:23It was a cold evening, it was dark.
0:36:25 > 0:36:27Normally, in the winter, when we have a shout,
0:36:27 > 0:36:30you know it's going to be something serious.
0:36:33 > 0:36:37Instantly you think, time of year, what could it be, where is it?
0:36:37 > 0:36:40And, February time, there's not a great deal
0:36:40 > 0:36:42of leisure traffic out there.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45There's not a great deal of fishing going on at that time of year,
0:36:45 > 0:36:46so it's an unknown.
0:36:48 > 0:36:50I could see the discussions going on,
0:36:50 > 0:36:52and I knew it wasn't a usual rescue.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54Let's have a brief down there before we go, guys.
0:36:55 > 0:36:59The crew have been called to a faller from one of the steepest parts
0:36:59 > 0:37:01of the coastal path.
0:37:01 > 0:37:03- Are you ready, Rob? - When you're ready.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06All they know is that it's a three-year-old female.
0:37:07 > 0:37:08She's called Flossie.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12And she's a Bichon Frise.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17I've got my own dog, so I'd hate to see a dog hurt or injured.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19So, yes, we wanted to get the dog out.
0:37:23 > 0:37:26Speed to about 18 knots, yes?
0:37:27 > 0:37:2818, 20 knots.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31The adrenaline goes off, no matter what the shout is,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34because things aren't predictable at sea.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35We knew the dog was in Porth Wen,
0:37:35 > 0:37:38which is a disused brickworks to the north of the islands.
0:37:38 > 0:37:40Quite an exposed, treacherous bit of coast.
0:37:40 > 0:37:45A nasty little bay, there's lots of big outcrops of rocks and wreaths.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47But it was also falling light as well.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49The cliff team weren't going to attempt a rescue
0:37:49 > 0:37:51because it was quite a difficult stretch of cliffs.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54So we were the only way that that dog was getting out.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03- What was it called?- Lassie.
0:38:03 > 0:38:05Lassie? Just confirm, Lassie, over.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15Flossie is not the crew's only concern.
0:38:15 > 0:38:16When called to dogs in trouble,
0:38:16 > 0:38:20it can be their owners who end up in most danger.
0:38:20 > 0:38:22It's always in your mind, where are the owners,
0:38:22 > 0:38:26what are they going to do, are we going to have to then rescue them
0:38:26 > 0:38:29if they're going to try and do something silly?
0:38:29 > 0:38:32OK, guys, just watch this come here, Mike.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Flossie's frantic family are up on the cliff edge,
0:38:35 > 0:38:39over which she disappeared while out on an evening walk.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43Looking over and seeing how far down the cliff went and not seeing her
0:38:43 > 0:38:46initially, I must confess, I thought that we had lost her.
0:38:46 > 0:38:48Big lump of rock here, Mike, come further out.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52We looked down and we could actually see her at the bottom
0:38:52 > 0:38:56of this 40-metre cliff. For me, it was like having a child go over.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58It was incredibly, incredibly stressful.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02It really did feel like it was part of the family that was in danger.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05My first thought was, "Is there a way for me to get down to her?"
0:39:05 > 0:39:08after realising there wasn't a way for her to get back up to us.
0:39:08 > 0:39:10Come round to port, mate.
0:39:10 > 0:39:13I didn't even give any thought to my own safety.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15But it was my partner, she said,
0:39:15 > 0:39:17"No, there's no way of getting down there."
0:39:17 > 0:39:20Stay here, she will go and get help.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23That prevented me from trying to get down the cliff.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28- Engine off.- 40 metres below, the crew reach shore.
0:39:28 > 0:39:30Now they need to find the casualty.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32- You all right if I go up there, Mike?- Yeah.
0:39:35 > 0:39:36Vince takes the lead.
0:39:39 > 0:39:42The dog had fallen about 40-odd metres, which is
0:39:42 > 0:39:47about four double-deckers' worth in height. So it had fallen a good way.
0:39:47 > 0:39:52Coastguard lights from the clifftop guide Vince in.
0:39:52 > 0:39:53Suddenly he spots movement.
0:39:54 > 0:39:57We could see the dog sat on a ledge probably ten or 15 foot up
0:39:57 > 0:40:01from the beach. But it was quiet, it was kind of making me think,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04yes, the dog's injured or the dog has hurt itself.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07Hello, dog. Hello, doggy, there we are.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09Hey, hey, hey.
0:40:09 > 0:40:13You're always told, always approach a scared dog, don't put
0:40:13 > 0:40:16your hand out, don't look at it directly, turn your back to it.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18Give me a bit of backlight.
0:40:19 > 0:40:21That dog doesn't know you, I don't know it,
0:40:21 > 0:40:22I don't know its temperament.
0:40:22 > 0:40:26But I'm wearing a big yellow and black drysuit with hi-vis
0:40:26 > 0:40:28and I've got a helmet on, I've got gloves on,
0:40:28 > 0:40:30it probably thinks it's an alien coming to rescue it,
0:40:30 > 0:40:32not a lifeboatman or a human.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34Hello, dog.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Hello, dog. Hello.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38DOG YELPS
0:40:38 > 0:40:39Hey.
0:40:41 > 0:40:42Hey.
0:40:45 > 0:40:49It was higher than us, so we had to kind of scramble up towards it.
0:40:49 > 0:40:52And the last thing I wanted was a little angry Bichon Frise lunging
0:40:52 > 0:40:55towards us, so it was a case of visors down, get the bag ready,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58get your gloves on and just prepare.
0:40:58 > 0:41:00There we are.
0:41:00 > 0:41:01All right.
0:41:02 > 0:41:05Anybody that is scared isn't going to behave or act
0:41:05 > 0:41:06like they normally would.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10I tried talking to it but... that's when I knew
0:41:10 > 0:41:13there was going to be no way of convincing this dog
0:41:13 > 0:41:15to come towards us.
0:41:15 > 0:41:17YELPING AND GROWLING
0:41:17 > 0:41:18It wasn't going to come nicely,
0:41:18 > 0:41:21and it was trying to tell me who was boss.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25It was a case of kind of doing the old ninja
0:41:25 > 0:41:27and taking my chance when it turned away.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31Ssh...
0:41:36 > 0:41:39I wasn't going to hang around on the bottom of the cliff being told
0:41:39 > 0:41:41what to do by a Bichon Frise.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44OK, Derek, we've got the dog.
0:41:44 > 0:41:46Just got to watch out now that he doesn't make a runner.
0:41:46 > 0:41:48It's quite comfy in here.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52I'm going to have to try and secure this bag a bit better, guys.
0:41:55 > 0:41:57Don't tip that bag.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02Just to confirm, we've got the dog in a bag here, safe and well.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05Quite the opposite to friendly.
0:42:05 > 0:42:07Probably had something to do with the face of the two we sent ashore,
0:42:07 > 0:42:11but the dog is secure anyway. We'll meet you in the bay.
0:42:11 > 0:42:14Those eyes are as if it wants to eat me.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16CHUCKLING
0:42:16 > 0:42:19Kept talking to Flossie in the bag,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21kept popping her head down and making sure she was OK.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24There we are, dog. Watch your fingers.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27Gave off the odd growl, just to remind us she wasn't happy,
0:42:27 > 0:42:32but I think she knew she was safe and she was with humans again.
0:42:32 > 0:42:33How are we doing?
0:42:33 > 0:42:37- Friendly(!) - It's supposed to be friendly! - CHUCKLING
0:42:38 > 0:42:40After her ordeal,
0:42:40 > 0:42:44a shaken but much happier Flossie is reunited with her family.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50There we go.
0:42:50 > 0:42:52Come on, darling.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56- There we go.- There you go, Flossie.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Friendly thing.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Once we let the dog out of the bag, it was fine,
0:43:00 > 0:43:02it was like a completely different dog.
0:43:02 > 0:43:03A bit friendlier now!
0:43:03 > 0:43:05LAUGHTER
0:43:05 > 0:43:09- Was she not so friendly? - She's just scared.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Hello, dog. There we are.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14She didn't bite you or anything, did she?
0:43:14 > 0:43:17I felt terrible for him, and Claire, my partner,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21she just, she was like, "That's not Flossie!" But, you know,
0:43:21 > 0:43:22how would WE react in a situation
0:43:22 > 0:43:25that was completely foreign to us and that stressful?
0:43:25 > 0:43:27It might have just been the face, Derek.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31If the RNLI hadn't come out, I do genuinely think I would have
0:43:31 > 0:43:34been foolhardy enough to actually have tried to get down there.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38There was no way on earth that we would have left her down there.
0:43:38 > 0:43:42I didn't know what to say to them because I was just so,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44so thankful for everything they had done.
0:43:45 > 0:43:49Clear Coastguard, that's us back on slip and closing down.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52Another life saved for the Moelfre crew.
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Tonight, the only casualty was Vince.
0:43:55 > 0:43:58Bichon Frise. Bit me.
0:44:00 > 0:44:02Ooh!
0:44:07 > 0:44:12The fishing town of Bridlington has had its own lifeboat since 1802.
0:44:13 > 0:44:18For the last 114 years, it's lived here just off the high street,
0:44:18 > 0:44:19a few hundred metres from the beach.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23- ARCHIVE:- The Bridlington lifeboat
0:44:23 > 0:44:26is kept in what looks like a very big garage.
0:44:26 > 0:44:27Whenever it has to go to sea,
0:44:27 > 0:44:30it has to make the first part of the journey by road.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35Cars and buses stop to let the lifeboat through.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Our station, it's a bit unique,
0:44:39 > 0:44:41which is sadly going to come to an end.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44Well, not sadly because we're getting a nice, shiny boathouse,
0:44:44 > 0:44:47but it's going to be sort of end of an era,
0:44:47 > 0:44:50that we're not going to be going down a main road
0:44:50 > 0:44:53before we actually get the boat in the water.
0:44:53 > 0:44:55I won't miss it, you know.
0:44:55 > 0:44:57Health and safety nightmare.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03It's not the only health and safety nightmare on their patch.
0:45:03 > 0:45:06Flamborough Head, created by thousands of years
0:45:06 > 0:45:08of coastal erosion,
0:45:08 > 0:45:12is notorious for its unpredictable tide and currents.
0:45:16 > 0:45:18No-one knows the risks around here
0:45:18 > 0:45:21better than fisherman and Bridlington crewmember Steve.
0:45:23 > 0:45:26His family have been fishing these waters for 300 years.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30I will say the sea is in your blood.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33If you are from the type of family that has had generations and
0:45:33 > 0:45:37generations of men going to sea,
0:45:37 > 0:45:40every one of them will tell you that the sea is in their blood.
0:45:42 > 0:45:44For myself, coming from my background,
0:45:44 > 0:45:45the way I perform at sea,
0:45:45 > 0:45:49the way I think about the weather or the tide or the wind,
0:45:49 > 0:45:53most of that is coming from my basic instinct
0:45:53 > 0:45:57of what I've picked up over the last 50 years.
0:45:58 > 0:46:01The tides are a huge factor around Flamborough Head,
0:46:01 > 0:46:05because Flamborough Head sticks out into the sea
0:46:05 > 0:46:07and disrupts the tidal flow.
0:46:07 > 0:46:08The tide at any one time
0:46:08 > 0:46:12can be running in several different directions.
0:46:12 > 0:46:15For anybody that doesn't know the area,
0:46:15 > 0:46:19they can soon find themselves from being in calm water
0:46:19 > 0:46:21to very serious conditions.
0:46:21 > 0:46:26They can soon find themselves in a seriously dangerous predicament.
0:46:32 > 0:46:34When the Bridlington crew's pagers go off,
0:46:34 > 0:46:36they are prepared for anything.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40But when they are called out to help another lifeboat crew,
0:46:40 > 0:46:42they know it's serious.
0:46:43 > 0:46:46It's quite unusual for us to be called to something
0:46:46 > 0:46:49that another lifeboat is already dealing with.
0:46:50 > 0:46:55It was going through my head, what's gone wrong, what could be happening?
0:46:55 > 0:47:00Three kayakers have got into trouble off the notorious Flamborough Head.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03Flamborough's own lifeboat has rescued two of them.
0:47:03 > 0:47:05The third is still missing.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08The Bridlington boat has been called out to help in the search.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12I wanted to get going pretty quick
0:47:12 > 0:47:14because I knew we were going to run out of daylight.
0:47:18 > 0:47:23It's been almost an hour since the 62-year-old kayaker was last seen.
0:47:23 > 0:47:28The tide is going out and there are only a few hours of daylight left.
0:47:28 > 0:47:29When we cleared Flamborough Head,
0:47:29 > 0:47:32we started to encounter much larger waves.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42It turned from flat, calm conditions
0:47:42 > 0:47:47into quite serious conditions within a very short distance.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54Considering the conditions that we were experiencing on the lifeboat,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57we knew the kayaker was going to be struggling.
0:47:58 > 0:48:00He was going to be in the water,
0:48:00 > 0:48:02waves were going to be splashing over him.
0:48:07 > 0:48:12Missing kayaker in bad weather - you could be looking for a fatality.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14You might not even find them.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21There's no sign of the kayaker near his last-known position.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24The crew must decide their next move.
0:48:25 > 0:48:27It was not a simple task.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30Nobody was really sure where this guy might be.
0:48:31 > 0:48:33Myself and Steve had a chat,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36came up with a plan of what we were going to do.
0:48:36 > 0:48:40And I said, "I think we should follow a track with the tide
0:48:40 > 0:48:44"to the north because that's where I believe that he might have gone."
0:48:46 > 0:48:48He won't have been able to get out of the ebb tide
0:48:48 > 0:48:50because it is that strong.
0:48:50 > 0:48:54He won't have been able to paddle against it or swim against it.
0:48:56 > 0:49:01We set off on our search in a north-westerly course.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06We were leaving the initial search scene by about two and a half miles.
0:49:06 > 0:49:08Using Steve's nautical intuition,
0:49:08 > 0:49:12the Coastguard and crew extend the original search zone.
0:49:13 > 0:49:18We know as the job gets longer, then there's less chance finding him.
0:49:18 > 0:49:21You're sort of wishing yourself, you know, "Come on,
0:49:21 > 0:49:24"let's find him, let's find him. where are you, where are you?"
0:49:26 > 0:49:29We were following the tidal stream down the coast and
0:49:29 > 0:49:32he just weren't appearing, you kept thinking, "He will be here soon,
0:49:32 > 0:49:34"he will be here soon," and he just wasn't.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36After over an hour searching,
0:49:36 > 0:49:38there's still no sign of the kayaker.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42If Steve's hunch hasn't paid off, he may never be found.
0:49:42 > 0:49:46The crew must decide either to push on or turn back.
0:49:46 > 0:49:51My instinct was telling me, "Keep going, keep going, keep going."
0:49:55 > 0:49:57Eventually we saw...
0:49:58 > 0:49:59..a white object.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10We thought, "Yes, there he is! Yeah, we found him."
0:50:10 > 0:50:12We made full speed towards it.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14We were on a little bit of a high,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17called it into the Coastguards that we had seen something.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21We were pretty positive until we arrived at the kayak.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25The kayak was upside down.
0:50:25 > 0:50:27No sign of the person.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34And then when we got there and
0:50:34 > 0:50:38he wasn't with it, it went from this massive high to this massive low.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44We kind of knew that he had been with the kayak and holding on to it,
0:50:44 > 0:50:49and when you start getting cold, you lose your grip
0:50:49 > 0:50:54and probably just got to the point where he couldn't hold on any more.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59The elements got the better of him, and he just physically couldn't.
0:51:00 > 0:51:03The worst-case scenario is, yes, that he has drowned.
0:51:03 > 0:51:05We are not going find anybody.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10Has it gone from looking for a missing person to
0:51:10 > 0:51:12are we going to be recovering a body, you know?
0:51:12 > 0:51:14But we were straight back on it.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17Because time was ticking on.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20I asked for Filey lifeboat to be launched as well.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23You know, let's start chucking stuff at this now.
0:51:23 > 0:51:25We just need to find him.
0:51:27 > 0:51:28Five miles up the coast,
0:51:28 > 0:51:32another lifeboat is launched in the hunt for the kayaker.
0:51:34 > 0:51:36I've never been involved in a search as big as that before,
0:51:36 > 0:51:39that escalates so quickly.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42The Coastguards were on the clifftop searching, binoculars.
0:51:42 > 0:51:45The pressure built immensely at that time.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51It's now become a major search operation with three lifeboats,
0:51:51 > 0:51:54over 15 crew and several rescue teams on shore,
0:51:54 > 0:51:58all searching for the missing kayaker.
0:51:58 > 0:52:02It's very difficult to spot a person in the water.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05You're looking for just their head, really.
0:52:09 > 0:52:11Your eyes are straining.
0:52:11 > 0:52:13You see a bit of debris floating, it's a person.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15You see a bird sat there, it's a person.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18And you've got to sort of shake your head a bit and think, no,
0:52:18 > 0:52:21remember your training, that's not what a person looks like
0:52:21 > 0:52:23in the water.
0:52:23 > 0:52:28As the light begins to fade, the Coastguard radio with an update.
0:52:28 > 0:52:32Somebody on the clifftop called the Coastguards and said,
0:52:32 > 0:52:34they can see something white,
0:52:34 > 0:52:37just quarter of a mile inside of where we were.
0:52:37 > 0:52:38That gave us a bit of hope.
0:52:38 > 0:52:41We couldn't see it from where WE were.
0:52:41 > 0:52:42The weather was too bad.
0:52:42 > 0:52:45At this stage, every possible sighting is followed up.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49The Bridlington and Flamborough lifeboats
0:52:49 > 0:52:51speed to where the white object has been seen.
0:52:54 > 0:52:57You're wishing, "Let's hope it's him, let's hope it's him."
0:53:03 > 0:53:07I spotted this little person. His hand sticking up in the air
0:53:07 > 0:53:10and it was just like, "Oh, my God, he's there, we've found him."
0:53:17 > 0:53:20We got alongside him, me and another lad grabbed him,
0:53:20 > 0:53:24pulled him aboard and he was quite in a bad way.
0:53:24 > 0:53:26It was the first time I've seen someone look that bad.
0:53:26 > 0:53:29He wasn't far-off slipping away, I don't think.
0:53:29 > 0:53:31Pick him up, then.
0:53:32 > 0:53:34Is he on oxygen still?
0:53:34 > 0:53:37He's on oxygen.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40Exhausted, and suffering the effects of hypothermia,
0:53:40 > 0:53:43missing kayaker Robbie is transferred
0:53:43 > 0:53:46to Bridlington's bigger lifeboat to warm him up in the wheelhouse
0:53:46 > 0:53:49and where he can be assessed by a paramedic.
0:53:53 > 0:53:57We could see he was in a life-threatening situation.
0:53:58 > 0:54:01After a casualty has been in the water so long,
0:54:01 > 0:54:03even though you pull him out alive,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05you still are a little bit dubious
0:54:05 > 0:54:10about what he's been through while he's been in the water.
0:54:10 > 0:54:13Is he at a point where he needs CPR?
0:54:13 > 0:54:14Is he too far gone?
0:54:14 > 0:54:19You just had to get the casualty onboard and assess him
0:54:19 > 0:54:21and do what you can at that time.
0:54:22 > 0:54:26I don't think he needs it any more, but if he does...
0:54:26 > 0:54:28When we found that, I thought it would be an all-night job,
0:54:28 > 0:54:31- once we got that empty.- But he must have been able to see us,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34and it must be the worst feeling in the world.
0:54:34 > 0:54:35Watching us go across there.
0:54:37 > 0:54:39After 20 minutes' warming up,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42Robbie has recovered enough to be transferred to hospital
0:54:42 > 0:54:45via the smaller lifeboat and ambulance waiting on shore.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49When I saw him come aboard,
0:54:49 > 0:54:52it was a guy that looked like he was fighting for his life.
0:54:58 > 0:55:01When he came out the wheelhouse he was chatting with the crew,
0:55:01 > 0:55:03he was a totally different person.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Not out of the woods, he still needed to go to hospital,
0:55:06 > 0:55:09but he could walk off, you know, our lifeboat.
0:55:12 > 0:55:16The captain of the rib, he says, I think the first thing he said was,
0:55:16 > 0:55:18"Who's a lucky boy?"
0:55:18 > 0:55:21Robbie's ordeal began after he was separated from his friends
0:55:21 > 0:55:25and tried to paddle to the safety of shore alone.
0:55:25 > 0:55:30And a big massive wave lifted me and just rolled me over.
0:55:32 > 0:55:35That was it, I was out of the boat, and that's when reality hit.
0:55:35 > 0:55:37Good luck, fella, anyway.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39I just held on the boat.
0:55:39 > 0:55:41And then I started being sick.
0:55:42 > 0:55:44That kind of made me a bit dizzy.
0:55:45 > 0:55:50Every time I was sick, then I could have quite easily let the boat go.
0:55:52 > 0:55:54And I knew I shouldn't do that.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59But eventually I was left with no boat.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09- Lucky guy.- Pardon?- Very lucky guy.
0:56:09 > 0:56:14There's no denying how lucky I was. I might have died that day.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I certainly think we can put that down to a life saved.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32He's going home to his family tonight, and he could have
0:56:32 > 0:56:35quite easily not been. So, yes, it was a good feeling.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39Time and tide might wait for no-one,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42but that day Steve helped beat them both.
0:56:43 > 0:56:48A lot of what we did that day was down to Steve and his knowledge.
0:56:49 > 0:56:52Yeah, he was invaluable that day.
0:56:52 > 0:56:53Don't tell him.
0:56:55 > 0:56:59When people ask you, "Why do you want to be a lifeboatman,
0:56:59 > 0:57:00"why do you do it?"
0:57:00 > 0:57:04Part of it is for moments like that when you know you have made
0:57:04 > 0:57:07a difference, when you know that you have saved a life.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14After helping rescue his fellow fishermen from the sinking trawler,
0:57:14 > 0:57:18Darren is still coming to terms with the loss of the Ocean Way.
0:57:18 > 0:57:22It was a good few days before it really sank in, pardon the pun.
0:57:22 > 0:57:27It really hit home then just how bad it could have been, I guess.
0:57:28 > 0:57:31At the moment, I'm not looking for a permanent job.
0:57:31 > 0:57:34I'm happy just to take it easy.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39As long as the bills are paid and we still get married, I'm happy.
0:57:41 > 0:57:44And Flossie has bounced back from her 40-metre clifftop fall.
0:57:44 > 0:57:48I was incredibly surprised that Flossie had no apparent injuries
0:57:48 > 0:57:50on her at all. She just was muddy.
0:57:50 > 0:57:54From her point of view, she just seemed as if she had been out
0:57:54 > 0:57:55for a nice long walk over a field.
0:57:55 > 0:57:57She just seemed to be completely herself
0:57:57 > 0:57:59and as if nothing had happened.
0:58:08 > 0:58:10You can't really get it wrong.
0:58:11 > 0:58:13You can't take your time.
0:58:14 > 0:58:16You just need to get there and get the job done.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21Somebody that's been out for 17 hours isn't going to be good.
0:58:21 > 0:58:25You are hoping for the best, but thinking about,
0:58:25 > 0:58:27you know, the worst.