Yacht-phobic folks who think sailors are people with Coutts Bank accounts who play deck quoits in white flannel clothing are about to be disabused of their preconceptions.

Shipwright Nick Gates, a man who gets his adze dirty rebuilding wrecks found on mud flats or bargains in the small ads shows the world that boating can be cheap, and great fun in a new TV series called Getting Afloat to be broadcast on Discovery Home & Leisure channel in May.

He can resurrect a dumped inflatable with a mastic gun, use half-forgotten traditional shipwright skills to re-build an Essex smack or wield his caulking mallet to re-float a French sardine trawler. For more information call 0207 471 6881.