Every year, crews from the ivy league universities Yale and Harvard compete in a rowing regatta. For students like Maddie, the weight of responsibility for their university’s reputation spurs them on in tough training for the annual race. Continuing northeast, we find New England’s largest estuary, a vast number of lighthouses, and a naval shipyard that has been producing submarines for over a hundred years.

Lighthouse keeper Dave McCurdy loves the solitude and connection to the past that comes with his job. The lighthouse on Rose Island in Narragansett Bay was built in 1870.

In an area of Rhode Island better known for historic mansions and more recent luxury homes, Ann and Kevin Tarsagian have established an alpaca farm. With enthusiasm and determination, they’ve learned to care for these special animals and built up a thriving business. When we visit, the farm has just welcomed a new and very cute arrival.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.