大象传媒

In his book, Philip Hoare seeks out various shorelines, examining our need to be immersed in water.

Or at least to be near it.

He arrives in Provincetown, Cape Cod, boards the Dolphin VIII, and is soon amongst loons and gannets, minkes and rorquals. He also thinks about Herman Melville and a passage from Moby Dick - 'a vast sound of sighing and sobbing' - but what is this phenomena?

To Scotland. To the North Sea and he remembers family trips to Torquay, destination caravan-land. And it leads him to think about another inhabitant of this seaside town. A woman of the 1830's, a famous poet, who came to know the life maritime as a blessing and a curse.

Then to a dry dock in Portsmouth, and to Greenwich, to enjoy special access to sartorial artefacts worn by a legend of the high-seas - "there's a naval strategy to this design: the sweep of the lapel, the rise of the collar, the arch of the pockets."

A final quest sees him going to Bantry Bay. He's previously been swimming with whales and dolphins, but never with 'aurelia aurita', let alone 'chrysaora hysoscella'. Truth be told, it's quite an unnerving experience with these unpredictable creatures.

Omnibus of five parts read by Tobias Menzies

Producer Duncan Minshull.

First broadcast on 大象传媒 Radio 4 in July 2017.