Britain Afloat: starts this Saturday, 30th Sept, BBC2, 8pm

I’ve travelled the waterways of Britain – from the tidal Mersey estuary, to the canal networks of the Midlands and meandering rivers of west Wales. 

In the series, I learn about the way different boat designs have developed, how people’s lives have been shaped by life and work on the water, and meet some incredible characters who are keeping the traditions alive.

The series kicks off with the Thames Sailing Barge. It’s a majestic craft with a distinctive rig known as a ‘spritsail’ which means that – even though it’s 80ft long, has upwards of 10 sails and could be loaded with 100 tons of cargo – it could be sailed by two people. There’s just one that still has no engine aboard - Edme - and I had the privilege to sail with her crew in the Thames barge match, the oldest sailing race in the world.

Later in the series, I learn to fish for salmon from a wobbly one-man coracle, find out why the narrow boat is so narrow, and hear how Grace Kelly’s dad fell foul of British snobbery at Henley Regatta. I even fall in (inevitable!).