Maldon Nub News talks to Charlie Pitcher, the Burnham-on-Crouch ocean rowing expert who plays a starring role in a new reality TV show starting at 9pm on Monday (2 November) evening.

Even on a computer screen, it's clear Charlie Pitcher is a man full of energy and enthusiasm as he scrambles to join our Zoom meeting in the middle of another busy day where boats and the sea take centre stage.

It's been a crazy few days for Charlie, managing director of Rannoch Adventure, a Burnham business that specialises in building ocean rowing boats and providing people with the chance to try out the adventurous nautical sport for themselves.

Charlie's role in the new ITV series, 'Don't Rock the Boat', has seen him dashing from interview to interview this week, while still working hard in the business he is so passionate about.

How Charlie played a central role from the start

It was his friendship with and practical support for adventurer Ross Edgeley, famous for his 2018 1,780-mile swim around Great Britain, that eventually led Charlie to his role in the new celebrity reality series.

The production company behind the 'Sink or Swim' TV show Ross featured in, South Shore Productions, became interested in working on a TV project with Charlie.

South Shore CEO Melanie Leach worked with Charlie to come up with a detailed idea for the new show. After some initial hurdles with the plans and a switch from Channel 4 to ITV, the mammoth task of filming the series got underway. The challenge would see the celebrity cast attempt to row the length of Britain.

Charlie tells how the production of the series then had to overcome the problems caused by lockdown.

"We all had to test for coronavirus before the training began here in July," he says," and then we were all able to go into a bubble.

"The celebrities started on the Monday with only one of them having any rowing experience at all – and by Friday, they were competent rowers."

Working with the celebrities during the challenge

The obvious question, of course, is what working with the celebrities was really like.

Now Charlie's smile broadens.

"As a group, they were a great bunch of people," he says, "and fantastic for me to work with. But they are all very different individuals, and there were some clashes…"

As the summer filming took off and the whole crew and cast moved from St Ives, Cornwall, up to Scotland, again everyone worked in a bubble. Covid-19 tests were weekly. Fortunately, everyone involved – dozens of people – tested negative throughout.

A lifetime passion for boats and the sea - and this part of Essex

Charlie, who has grown up, lived and worked in the Maldon district area and near parts of the county all his life, is a passionate champion of ocean rowing and the sea. He comes from a family that was building boats for the Navy from the 1800s and boats and the sea have been a way of life for him "since I was a boy".

However, his discovery of ocean rowing was almost accidental. Charlie's wife bought him a book, 'The Crossing' by Ben Fogel and James Cracknell, about their own ocean rowing adventure.

"I thought if they could do it when they weren't so prepared, with my background I could surely try," he says.

And then he was hooked. Rannoch Adventure was founded 10 years ago and everyone who works for the company is a friend. As well as building more than 100 ocean rowing boats, the firm offers ordinary and extraordinary people the chance to try ocean rowing for themselves.

"It's for absolutely everyone," he says, "yes, of course there are those who go on to take it up as a sport, but we have all kinds of people who just want the experience of it as an adventure. It's for everyone, from teenagers to grandparents. We provide all the support that's needed and it opens up a whole new world for people.

"This year, of all years, I think it's so important that people know about what's available to them in this country," he says," how many people know that within a relatively short distance you can see a puffin – or that off Scotland there are killer whales? I really hope that one thing that comes out of this year is that it opens people's minds up to what's available to them in this country."

Yet it's not just the sea that Charlie's passionate about. Here is a man who wants to champion Essex everywhere he can."

"When I race, I fly the Essex flag," he says, "wherever in the world that is. I love Essex and I'm immensely proud that it's where I come from."

As well as building Ocean Rowing boats, Rannoch Adventure offers opportunities locally in Essex to experience ocean rowing.

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