After a tragic diving accident claims the life of a close friend, former Royal Navy officer Mike Nicholls returns to the town where he grew up - Bridehaven. He hopes his new job, as harbour master will help him put his past behind him.

Mike is alarmed by the behaviour of an ex-chief petty officer and Falklands veteran who descends on Bridehaven with a group of school sea cadets.

A miserable stranger arrives in town that seems to be hankering for a Bridehaven that no longer exists.

The town is swamped with birdwatchers, and Melanie has an important decision to make.

George Blade becomes an eco-warrior when a toxic spillage threatens Tony Simpson's latest land deal. His campaign ensures that the last of the off-season tourists soon desert Bridehaven. Mike's investigation is overshadowed by Steve, Jane and Aunt Nicholls

Tony is love struck when his estranged wife returns home and becomes heavily involved in the business. Mike and Jane are suspicious and join forces to investigate but, in the process, find themselves being drawn closer together

Mike devises a plan to relieve the off-season boredom - the practice rescue of a stranded whale. However, the newfound environmentalists are too busy to notice that Kelly Blade is thinking of leaving home with her unsuitable new boyfriend.

The Blades recover some wrecked cases of vintage Scotch, but Tony Simpson is furious about his lost cargo and determines to track it down. Meanwhile, Jane's ex-boyfriend Phil turns up.

Jane and Philip celebrate their engagement with a party for the whole of Bridehaven. Mike believes that he is powerless to intervene, but when an old friend of Jane's revives painful memories for her, she finds herself hesitating

Mike returns from his travels to find that half the inhabitants of Bridehaven have left the town due to a group of racketeers who have the place gripped in fear. And they now own the debt Mike owed for the purchase of his boat.

Mike takes the law into his own hands when Steve is accused of the murder of his wheeler-dealing uncle, Martin. Tensions mount as Mike's jealousy over Melanie's new boss, Nick, threatens to cloud his judgement.

Mike and Melanie are thrown together in peril when they confront escaped convict Harry Badden and his brothers in an isolated cottage. Charlie has a broken arm and his daughter, Mollt, is diabetic and needing insulin shots.

Mike falls for a visiting journalist, Sara, but Melanie is uneasy about their fledgling relationship, believing the reporter may be using him to get information for her latest story. Her suspicions are heightened by a series of break-ins. Meanwhile, in a seemingly unconnected incident, a tenant at Tony's caravan site begins an increasingly violent war with him, over the provision of facilities. At the same time, a property developer's boat is broken into.

Following a storm an amnesiac Asian woman is found on the beach. While Steve finds himself falling for her, Mike and Melanie begin to search for the answers to who she is, and why she was on a wrecked boat. As the answers emerge, they have are left with a race against time to find a group of illegal immigrants who have tuberculosis.

Mike is thrown into emotional turmoil when the father he has never met returns to Bridehaven. Meanwhile, Tony is supposed to be looking after his nephew, and the town's football team, managed by George, has reached the local final.