Tomás is sometimes greeted with incredulity by new passengers who can't believe he's so young. But the pilot has already racked up hundreds of flights between the remote island communities of Penobscot Bay, often navigating rough, unpaved forest landing strips.

Over decades, Moody’s Diner has become a social hub for its long-standing customers, and any change to its décor and menu can only happen with their agreement! Maine’s Penobscot Bay, with its many islands, is famous for lobsters and sailing, and it’s here we meet Tomás Sowles, a young commercial pilot loading his plane for an early morning flight.

Machines and the sawmill are not Alan’s only interests. He’s also an enthusiastic musician, with dreams of getting his own song played on the radio. Along the Maine coast, oysters are farmed where the rivers and creeks meet the sea, and we meet Judy, who’s been a waitress at her family’s restaurant for over forty years.

Deep in the Maine woods, sawmill owner Alan Higgins shows us how he gets along just fine by repairing and reusing what he has. When he’s not hard at work at the mill, he can be found tinkering with trucks and old sports cars in his yard.

Mike and his team find time to test out some of the surfboards they've built. Nearby, we visit a pier that once had a ballroom and hosted some of the biggest names in US music history, and a lighthouse commissioned by George Washington himself.

The unstable surface of a paddleboard makes yoga challenging for the body and mind alike. Next, we cross over into the state of Maine, where craftsmen use hand tools and traditional boatbuilding techniques to build bespoke and beautiful wooden surfboards.

The rugged stretch between Boston and the Canadian border is the final leg of our journey up the East Coast of the USA. On the coast of New Hampshire, we meet Shauna Fraser, an instructor giving paddleboard yoga classes.

The cranberry harvest is a time of fervent activity, as the community of growers help each other to bring in the precious crops. Leaving the farm behind, we head to the arrival point of the most famous boat in American history, The Mayflower, and then on to the city of Boston.

As our tour of New England finishes in the city of Boston, we meet Jessie Banhazl, an urban farmer. Her initiative and enthusiasm led her to pioneer vegetable growing techniques on the only remaining space available across the metropolis – the city’s vast and unoccupied rooftops.

Leaving the seals of Cape Cod behind, we head north, passing the canal that separates the peninsula from the mainland. A short way inland, we visit a cranberry bog run by Dawn Gates-Allen, who talks about what makes cranberry farming unique.

Andrea Bogomolni works as a pathobiologist at a renowned oceanographic institute in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Today she’s collecting seal “scat” to analyse and learn more about their diet and the ocean. She must also perform a necropsy on a seal found dead on the coast.

A long day at sea results in a large haul of scallops, which then need to be shucked by Bob and his crew. On the way back to shore, dolphins splash around them and a large group of seals are sighted on a sand bar.

Alan’s basket-making skills are highly prized on the island and by collectors, but he fears for the future of the craft. Moving on from Nantucket, we join a small team of scallop fishermen setting out from port on Cape Cod for a day’s dredging.

The sandy cliffs of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are being eroded by an advancing sea that threatens to wash away rows of beachside properties. On Nantucket, we meet Alan Reed, a man who visited the island and stayed, becoming a master craftsman in the intricate art of basket weaving.

Ann loves working with her alpacas on the farm. She explains a little about their breeding process, and the remarkable qualities of alpaca fleece. Then, it’s onwards to Massachusetts and the vacation paradise of Martha’s Vineyard, an island retreat favoured by several American presidents.