:00:10. > :00:17.Hello and welcome to Inside Out South West. Stories from where you
:00:17. > :00:24.live. Five sailors dead, two of them from Devon. Tonight, did this
:00:24. > :00:29.man put profit before safety? did you falsified the skippers
:00:29. > :00:35.experience on EC be? That is dangerous. Also tonight. Nick Baker
:00:35. > :00:45.explores the magic of this rare heathland. This is Inside Out South
:00:45. > :01:01.
:01:01. > :01:05.West. Sailing is a popular hobby in we have been investigating claims
:01:05. > :01:13.by the families of two Devon skippers that the way one delivery
:01:13. > :01:16.company operated had fatal consequences. Delivering yachts
:01:16. > :01:21.like these across the world's options can be a great way to earn
:01:21. > :01:26.a living. Sometimes the reality can be far from a glamourous lifestyle
:01:26. > :01:35.of their wins and foreign ports. These five sailors all delivered
:01:35. > :01:40.boats for the same company Reliance. I am one of the directors. We
:01:40. > :01:44.specified in yachts were wide and I want to show you how we prepare
:01:44. > :01:48.boats for delivery. Families and survivors claimed the company
:01:48. > :01:54.pressured skippers to sail into dangerous conditions with fatal
:01:54. > :02:00.consequences. One of Reliance's most experienced sailors was John
:02:00. > :02:04.Anstess. He had been a sea senior coxswain on a lifeboat. He had sold
:02:05. > :02:11.water running through his veins. His sister crude for him. To go
:02:11. > :02:17.through the bad weather we went through out there, it he was
:02:17. > :02:23.incredibly calm. I said, why are you not panicking, and he said I
:02:23. > :02:33.could panic if you like! It will not help. He was incredibly camp.
:02:33. > :02:33.
:02:33. > :02:40.It was a natural instinct for him - -,. Later that year, he was
:02:40. > :02:45.contacted to take a catamaran to Seattle. Delivering other people's
:02:45. > :02:49.jobs is a great way to see the world and experience the high seas.
:02:49. > :02:57.The crew are often unpaid as they are trying to build their mileage.
:02:57. > :03:00.Paul Webb wanted to get some more offshore experience. But Reliance
:03:00. > :03:07.was fairly well advertised on the internet. They had a reputation
:03:07. > :03:13.that I thought was very good. flew to Trinidad where he met John
:03:13. > :03:17.on board this best-of-. As the move north, the weather deteriorated.
:03:17. > :03:22.were close to the Colombian coast and we were starting to get some
:03:22. > :03:28.change in weather and there were lots of thunderstorms and lightning
:03:28. > :03:33.and tap heavy rain showers. There were three to four metre waves. The
:03:33. > :03:37.boat was getting battered pretty good. The best thing we could do
:03:37. > :03:44.was turn around and head back to our rhubarb and wait for a change
:03:44. > :03:47.in weather. Reliance criticise John for returning to port. John, Paul
:03:47. > :03:52.and Caspar motored through the Panama Canal, but they were worried
:03:52. > :03:57.about the unpredictable weather in the final voyage to Seattle. John
:03:57. > :04:02.Ward Reliance about the storms and he wanted to wait until the weather
:04:02. > :04:07.clears and suggested an alternative route. Reliance said he had attired
:04:07. > :04:12.attitude and was making too much of the weather. They said not to worry
:04:12. > :04:17.about it. He has two options were a sensible route which was safer for
:04:17. > :04:21.the boat and crew or to stop for those bad winter months and
:04:21. > :04:25.actually keep the boat somewhere safe. He was in San Francisco. He
:04:25. > :04:31.asked Reliance if he can change route and go through Hawaii and
:04:31. > :04:36.avoid the hurricane. He was flatly told know. The owner will go
:04:36. > :04:41.ballistic. He was told he was taking too long. Paul felt safety
:04:41. > :04:46.was compromised and he and Casper decided to leave when they reached
:04:46. > :04:50.California. I told John that I was not happy going further north at
:04:51. > :04:56.this time of the year. John told reliance that Paul said that
:04:56. > :05:00.chances of survival were slim, a view echoed by local sailors. John
:05:00. > :05:06.needed new crew to complete the delivery. He was told he had an
:05:06. > :05:09.attitude because he was complaining. He was told not to tell prospective
:05:09. > :05:15.crew that the weather could be bad, tell them that there was nothing
:05:15. > :05:19.wrong with the weather. John was joined by Richard Bachman on the
:05:20. > :05:27.left at -- these two men. This will renew her husband loved adventure
:05:27. > :05:34.Bopper safety-conscious. I took him to the airport and I can remember
:05:34. > :05:44.having a sick feeling. Excuse me... That was the last time I saw my
:05:44. > :05:44.
:05:44. > :05:48.husband. Sorry... This man was from California and chief -- he phoned
:05:48. > :05:52.his wife and she thought she had nothing to worry. I heard nothing
:05:52. > :06:00.from them, other than the fact that he was excited. He was finally
:06:00. > :06:04.going to go. I said just be safe. The last e-mail from Reliance when
:06:04. > :06:10.he asked what the weather was like, I am having difficulty getting the
:06:10. > :06:15.weather here, what is it, be E mailed back said the weather is
:06:15. > :06:25.fine, nice light winds, C in Seattle. There are three sailors
:06:25. > :06:29.
:06:29. > :06:36.missing of the Oregon coast. boat was found and there was no one
:06:36. > :06:41.there. The Coastguard found the catamaran and it was destined for
:06:41. > :06:46.Seattle, but the crew and the lifeboat was no word to be found.
:06:46. > :06:50.My world fell apart. Caro has not seen all the evidence contained in
:06:50. > :06:55.the US Coast Guard report on the loss of the boat and the three
:06:55. > :07:04.deaths. It was dated 7th December and says... Before the catamaran
:07:04. > :07:08.left California John warned that the journey was dangerous. I was
:07:08. > :07:13.not leaving the boat on a whim and I put that in an e-mail to Nick
:07:13. > :07:19.Irving and I said that I did not feel the boat was equipped to sail
:07:19. > :07:26.to the north Pacific in winter. There were some fairly major
:07:26. > :07:34.deficiencies on the boat. One of the things was there were no
:07:34. > :07:40.survival suits on the boat, no heat on the boat. It had no heat. No
:07:40. > :07:45.radar or, no survival suits? In addition, the whole had developed
:07:45. > :07:55.stress cracks. I do not know who sent this or what they are talking
:07:55. > :08:07.
:08:07. > :08:10.about. That... You have to stop... Stop... When the Coastguard found
:08:11. > :08:17.the catamaran, they also found the logbook. The last entry was at 3am
:08:17. > :08:24.on Monday morning. Could this tragedy have been avoided. Why did
:08:24. > :08:27.a season skipper like John agree to put to sea? Dee Caffari knows only
:08:27. > :08:31.too well the dangers of her profession and that short cuts put
:08:31. > :08:36.lives at risk. The he has just spent half of the money that he had
:08:36. > :08:42.at the beginning on fuel, provisions, birthing, Crewe, so he
:08:42. > :08:46.is out of pocket and he was risking not getting paid. It is a hand-to-
:08:46. > :08:51.mouth existence, so it was undue pressure from the company to force
:08:51. > :08:57.him to take that final trip to Seattle. When you see the report of
:08:57. > :09:03.the winds, the gale force winds, it isn't that the boat is designed to
:09:03. > :09:07.be in. It is a cruising catamaran. This man's body was banned a
:09:07. > :09:13.hundred and 13 miles away. bodies of Dave Rodman and John
:09:13. > :09:18.Anstess were never found. The memory still Homs Paul Webb. John
:09:18. > :09:28.would have been a long-time friend. You have that affinity with him?
:09:28. > :09:39.
:09:39. > :09:43.Yes. It was... And sorry. Even today... Mat Sandys-Winsch worked
:09:43. > :09:47.for Reliance as a delivery skipper and any of us. He later had a major
:09:48. > :09:54.falling-out with the company and severed all ties. At the time it
:09:54. > :10:04.was terrible. I do not remember tears, but it was a pretty sombre
:10:04. > :10:13.place. It was not long before it was all back up and running as per
:10:13. > :10:19.normal. I heard a huge bang and felt the boat lurched up and over.
:10:19. > :10:23.One big motion, just flipped the whole way over. I cannot believe
:10:23. > :10:33.this is the way I will go out, I thought. No one will know how it
:10:33. > :10:36.happened. You would think that after the loss of three men, Nick
:10:36. > :10:40.Irving would be more attentive to what the crew had to say, but just
:10:40. > :10:48.two months later, it would appear that Mr Irving ignored another
:10:48. > :10:53.skipper. I was instructed, quite bluntly, to say, go north of
:10:53. > :10:59.Bermuda or do not work for us again. Aboard the catamaran with Kevin
:10:59. > :11:02.Klinges was this man and skipper Steve Hobley from Newton Abbott.
:11:02. > :11:05.Reliance appointed Steve Hobley to deliver the boat from France to
:11:05. > :11:13.Florida Anstey that he would be at his daughter's wedding in the
:11:13. > :11:16.States. He promised me that I will be about wedding. The French-built
:11:16. > :11:22.catamaran was headed for Fort Lauderdale in what should have been
:11:22. > :11:31.an easy passage at that time of year. Five days out of Madeira and
:11:31. > :11:36.Steve got a text message on a saxophone, he saying the they were
:11:36. > :11:46.wanted to change course. I was confused that anyone would want us
:11:46. > :11:52.
:11:52. > :11:57.He went from the perfect delivery route to being told to sail into...
:11:57. > :12:03.An area of bad weather. Steve did not want to divert. It was a bad
:12:03. > :12:08.time of year to go north. Would history repeat itself? They
:12:08. > :12:16.basically held that over his head, whether, if you do not... Change
:12:16. > :12:22.course, and if you decide to go on to Fort Lauderdale we might not
:12:22. > :12:26.have a job for you. instructions came from Reliant in
:12:26. > :12:30.Farnborough but he got the weather information from his children.
:12:31. > :12:39.got his own satellite phone and even down to training Jonathan and
:12:39. > :12:44.I have to plot the weather on the internet. And then it text him
:12:44. > :12:48.important things coming up in the weather. Things that maybe a yacht
:12:48. > :12:55.company should be doing. I am not a professional. The fears have become
:12:55. > :13:02.reality. The catamaran had capsized 200 miles from Bermuda in 45 ft
:13:02. > :13:08.waves. Steve was becoming hypothermic. I heard him talking to
:13:08. > :13:16.his mother, I think as he was a little kid. It was very strange.
:13:16. > :13:21.Very sad. The ocean it seems to get more aggressive. And now I am being
:13:21. > :13:26.thrown off the hull with Steve attached to my harness. He landed
:13:26. > :13:29.on me in a way with his head staring at my face. He was
:13:29. > :13:38.underneath the water, eight inches with his mouth at his eyes wide
:13:39. > :13:44.open. He had died and I would try everything I could to at least give
:13:44. > :13:50.his family his body, to give them something, if I could do that.
:13:50. > :13:57.Another wave came and blew us off the boat. I climbed back on and
:13:57. > :14:05.pulled and all the sudden there was just a life jacket. 11 hours after
:14:05. > :14:10.the capsize, they were rescued. Having nothing back of dad is... It
:14:10. > :14:14.leaves a wound. It is at somebody has walked out of life and hung up
:14:14. > :14:24.the phone and you are in mid- conversation. It's the most awful
:14:24. > :14:26.
:14:26. > :14:33.thing. They claim the boss gave the fate order to divert North. I have
:14:33. > :14:39.to live with that, the knowledge that I could helped him, I could
:14:39. > :14:45.have done something, I could have... Changed the course of events. But I
:14:45. > :14:49.have to live with that. A third's delivery skipper Alastair Crawford
:14:49. > :14:56.died in the Bay of Biscay on a winter delivery from reliance to
:14:56. > :15:00.the Caribbean. His mother claims there were so much pressure that he
:15:00. > :15:06.changed his plans for Christmas to get out to France. She says it was
:15:06. > :15:09.a case of pressure, pressure, pressure. An investigation
:15:09. > :15:14.concluded the boat did not have storm sails, insufficient charts
:15:14. > :15:20.and no way of getting weather reports at sea. It also appears to
:15:20. > :15:25.have been incorrectly registered. We have evidence Mr Irving allied
:15:25. > :15:32.to owners and insurance companies about the skippers experience. Nick
:15:32. > :15:37.is embellishing your CV before 2007 to show lots of deliveries. It's in
:15:37. > :15:43.black and white. Nick added 10,000 miles, tripling a skipper's actual
:15:43. > :15:50.experience. To enhance some reason mileage in a position of
:15:50. > :15:53.responsibility when they have not had the experience is shocking.
:15:53. > :16:00.Maritime and Coastguard Agency asked the CPS whether criminal
:16:00. > :16:04.proceedings could follow from the death of John. It is it was foreign
:16:04. > :16:07.registered both were powerless. John's sister suit them for
:16:07. > :16:13.negligence and one, the judge and was damning concluding pressure
:16:13. > :16:21.from them directly caused the loss of skipper and crew. He has five
:16:22. > :16:26.deaths on his hands. And I do not know how he sleeps at night.
:16:26. > :16:30.boss refused to be interviewed but said his business had completed a
:16:30. > :16:35.thousands of your deliveries and the skippers of professional and
:16:35. > :16:40.given 24 hours before. I want to ask you about the deaths of five
:16:40. > :16:43.sailors. I would ask why you put so much pressure on them to sail on a
:16:43. > :16:47.route they did not want to. I have answered those questions with the
:16:47. > :16:54.producer. You owe it to the families of the sailors who lost
:16:54. > :16:58.their lives and brothers and lives. The losses are great. I cannot make
:16:58. > :17:03.up for that. I do respond to the questions at have answered them as
:17:03. > :17:07.best I can. If you want anything further, put it in writing. We put
:17:07. > :17:10.it in writer and he denied pressuring the skippers but he
:17:10. > :17:17.ignored the specific questions about the e-mails so we gave him
:17:17. > :17:22.one last chance to defend himself. Sending e-mails like this, John
:17:22. > :17:30.told to the weather was unsafe. have answered his questions to the
:17:30. > :17:36.producer. The e-mails you sent, putting unfair pressure. That is an
:17:36. > :17:43.opinion that is yours. It is not mine. We offered to show him how he
:17:43. > :17:48.was avoiding questions. I have your answers here.
:17:48. > :17:54.Put it in writing and I'm happy to respond and writing. Can I ask you
:17:54. > :18:00.about a CV? Why did you also buy a skipper's experience on a CV? That
:18:00. > :18:05.is dangerous, isn't it? And he has been found liable in four civil
:18:05. > :18:13.cases but failed to pay damages. Four times a court has told you to
:18:13. > :18:18.pay. Why haven't you done that? If a court rules you should pay...
:18:18. > :18:24.court ruled against the company. Which you run. Yes, I was director
:18:25. > :18:28.at the time. Let's finish this here. I need to get back. Have you
:18:29. > :18:33.anything to say to the relatives of the skippers that were lost at sea
:18:33. > :18:37.because of your actions and your company's actions? I have got
:18:37. > :18:42.something to say, it is personal and will be to them directly and
:18:42. > :18:47.not in the public arena here. their grief, relatives have found
:18:47. > :18:52.Nick Irving's silence speaks volumes. We had a memorial party, I
:18:52. > :19:02.sent a letter to the office to see if anyone would pay their respects,
:19:02. > :19:09.I do not think they have treated us like human beings that have lost
:19:09. > :19:19.somebody. They clearly did not have any value for Dad as a human being,
:19:19. > :19:20.
:19:20. > :19:26.One of the great things about the south-west is you're never few
:19:26. > :19:29.miles away from so many different types of landscape. Whether the sea,
:19:29. > :19:34.woodland, small hands or a rapidly disappearing type of habitat,
:19:34. > :19:44.heathland. In the summer, Kinnock visited a precious remaining
:19:44. > :19:47.
:19:47. > :19:55.fragment. -- Neil. 213 Hector's of nature reserve in Devon. It is
:19:55. > :20:01.owned by the Clinton estate but run by the RSPB, a real wildlife haven.
:20:01. > :20:05.This is lowland heath, a rare habitats anywhere in the UK, let
:20:05. > :20:12.alone in Devon. To the untrained eye, it is nothing more than other
:20:12. > :20:19.and prickly and pine trees. He things like this are humming with
:20:19. > :20:29.life, particularly at this time of year. The gorse and heather produce
:20:29. > :20:30.
:20:30. > :20:34.a fantastic habitat for insects. Spiders and bumblebees. In turn,
:20:34. > :20:40.the insects feed the birds. You cannot have heathland that had
:20:40. > :20:45.there. This is my favourite. Look for a bright purple patch and you
:20:45. > :20:52.have got her there. If you want to double check the identification,
:20:52. > :20:57.look at the beautiful flowers. This is common heather, the stuff in
:20:57. > :21:02.your garden. This less plentiful species, or when you look down the
:21:02. > :21:09.stem, you can see why got its name. But this time of year, the plants
:21:09. > :21:16.are at their best in full flower. It is one of several heathland in
:21:16. > :21:22.this part of Devon which are known as the East Devon pebble bed heats.
:21:22. > :21:28.No surprises, pebbles. They are everywhere. This will is riddled.
:21:28. > :21:32.In places, the pebbles go down 17 metres below the surface. The clue
:21:32. > :21:37.as to how they got here is in the texture. They are very smooth to
:21:37. > :21:41.the touch. That has been worn smooth by running water which can
:21:41. > :21:46.be explained by the fact millions of years ago this whole area was
:21:46. > :21:52.under water. This was the bed of the great river from south to north.
:21:52. > :21:58.Once part of a river system created by fast geological events, the
:21:58. > :22:03.Heath and was made by land -- man. The sentries, locals cut the turf
:22:03. > :22:08.and gathered her there. That kept that city in the solo and with that
:22:08. > :22:16.a greater diversity of plants. Beautiful flowers like this are not
:22:16. > :22:21.crowded out by nettles and grass. It all makes for great habitat for
:22:21. > :22:28.moths like this one. The challenge for the Paris PB is keeping it all
:22:28. > :22:34.in good condition. -- R S PB. They have introduced these, Exmoor
:22:34. > :22:39.ponies. They eat the grass is at take fertility out of the soil. I
:22:39. > :22:44.met up with the warden he explained more. This is what you are aiming
:22:44. > :22:52.for, this wonderful mish-mash of different heather and gorse. Yes,
:22:52. > :22:58.we are looking for a mosaic between these areas with their ground,
:22:58. > :23:02.mature heathland, so a whole variety in these areas. We are
:23:02. > :23:08.achieving this by grazing and using cattle and ponies and using native
:23:08. > :23:15.breeds which are at risk, Exmoor and Galloway and Devon. Traditional
:23:15. > :23:19.breeds. And it seems to be working. The it's like this are using the
:23:19. > :23:28.gorse. And if you look into the pine, you might get lucky enough to
:23:28. > :23:35.see that real specialist, the, crossbow. All in all, it's a feast
:23:35. > :23:40.for the naturalist. In another piece of course, another is egg-
:23:40. > :23:48.laying. The butterfly is famous for laying eggs on Holly. But in some
:23:48. > :23:51.parts of Devon a eases course as its main food plant. In parts of
:23:51. > :23:55.the heathland they have gone beyond preening the gorse and heather and
:23:55. > :24:02.are trying to re-establish fresh heathland by scraping off the
:24:02. > :24:07.topsoil to take a fatality out. That newly created heathland is
:24:07. > :24:10.providing great habitats for these butterflies. They prefer the hotter
:24:10. > :24:20.and drier ground and what we're witnessing is a courtship ritual
:24:20. > :24:26.which means it is a rare sight of their upper wings. The Mail is
:24:26. > :24:36.bowing to the female. Trying to trap her antenna between his wings.
:24:36. > :24:43.
:24:43. > :24:47.But, he is getting the cold Butterflies are the real jewel in
:24:47. > :24:54.the Crown and to see them at their most abundant you need to walkaway
:24:54. > :24:58.to a nearby patch of woodland. This bitter and delayed his full of
:24:58. > :25:08.butterflies, they reckon they have the biggest right here of any
:25:08. > :25:15.
:25:15. > :25:20.Look at this, they're not here by accident. The flowers are here
:25:20. > :25:24.because this is managed woodland. To surely, humans would have used
:25:24. > :25:30.and cut it for access and to collect firewood. This is a modern
:25:30. > :25:36.wildlife designer delayed. One of the species to benefit of these
:25:36. > :25:41.still awash. They are the largest butterfly and up staging a comeback.
:25:41. > :25:47.If you are lucky, you might just catch their exciting courtship
:25:47. > :25:51.ritual with the male circling the Mail. They eventually settle team-
:25:51. > :26:01.mate. If only they were not interrupted by another male trying
:26:01. > :26:02.
:26:02. > :26:06.to get in on the act. Nearby, a rare blue form of the insects. It
:26:06. > :26:12.is the sheer variety that takes the breath away, sadly many are in
:26:12. > :26:20.severe decline and some are on the edge of extinction. It is great to
:26:20. > :26:25.see so many species here. BRS p b have done this to -- because water
:26:25. > :26:32.is a valuable resource on the dry heath. It is useful when it comes
:26:32. > :26:37.to fighting wildfires. But of equal importance is this is yet another
:26:37. > :26:42.wildlife habitat created by mankind. It seems rather peaceful today but
:26:42. > :26:50.if the sun came out, it is aerial dogfights and a battlefield for
:26:50. > :26:55.dragonflies. This female emperor has come for quite to lay eggs.
:26:55. > :27:05.These eggs hatch in the next few weeks. And two or three years later
:27:05. > :27:11.
:27:11. > :27:18.a dragonfly will emerge. Around the pond you can find many. This one is
:27:18. > :27:23.deterred by a buzzing mail. Eventually, the female returns to a
:27:23. > :27:31.different part to continue egg- laying. As another potential
:27:31. > :27:39.disturbance, a grass snake in the water looking out for prey. Pretty
:27:39. > :27:49.soon, it is time for me to make my escape as well. I am on my way to a
:27:49. > :27:53.lame behind known as the Lone Pine. This tree is past its prime but in
:27:53. > :27:58.its heyday, this was used as a navigation aid but at some point it
:27:58. > :28:04.was threatened by a trackway to come through the area and it is
:28:04. > :28:07.said local which is put a curse on anyone who took an axe to it. Even
:28:07. > :28:11.though it's past its best, the position cannot be detracted from.
:28:11. > :28:15.It's the highest point and you can see the full extent of this
:28:15. > :28:20.stunning corner of Devon. I doubt there are many places they can
:28:20. > :28:24.boast this range of animal and plant species. It is the hand of