RNLI Lyme Regis Lifeboat Station

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7.18am

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched and conducted a thorough search between Seven Rock Point and Golden Cap, after Portland coastguards asked for help following reports of a woman missing from her home in the town. The search also involved several teams of coastguards and lifeboat crew ashore. The elderly woman was eventually found safe and well ashore, and the search was called off at 8.21am.

Four men aboard a leisure boat were rescued when their vessel’s propeller became fouled. The lifeboat was launched at the request of Portland coastguard following a call for help from the Rianda off Seven Rock Point west of Lyme Regis. The broken down vessel was initially towed by the fishing boat Sunbeam. The lifeboat then took over the tow and brought the Rianda to the safety of the pontoon outside Lyme Regis harbour.

6.11pm

Six people (three adults and three children) were rescued after being cut off by the tide east of Charmouth. Plus at least six other people were also stranded as the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat, coastguards ashore and the coastguard helicopter from Portland were all involved in the rescue operation. The lifeboat was launched after coastguards received several 999 calls reporting six people stranded near Charmouth.

Because of a heavy swell, the lifeboat stood off while the coastguard helicopter winched a number of people to safety and landed them at Lyme Regis golf course. Meanwhile, more reports came in of other people – up to a further seven – also cut off east and west of Charmouth. A number of walkers made their own way to safety while the RNLI lifeboat, the helicopter and coastguards checked the area to make sure no-one else was trapped by the high tide. The Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat returned to harbour after two hours at sea.

Mystery surrounds a discovery of a ten foot sailing dinghy with no-one aboard some 15 miles south of Lyme Regis.  The town’s RNLI lifeboat was launched after a number of calls to Portland coastguard reporting the unmanned vessel. The lifeboat crew checked the area where the boat was first seen, and then examined the vessel, without success, for anything that might help to trace the owner.

The boat was in poor condition and attempts to tow it failed as it began to break up and finally sank. But the crew did recover a blue lifejacket with the name Baltic and the white sail which had the letter and number K II and underneath the number 2. Lifeboat crew member Elliot Herbert said: “There were very few indentifying marks on the boat, which was in poor condition. The plywood construction began to break up before we could tow it.” After two hours at sea the lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis harbour.

Two people aboard a broken down powerboat were rescued by Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat. The un-named powerboat, with a man and a woman aboard, broke down 16 miles from Lyme Regis off Otterton Point west of Sidmouth. After securing the powerboat the lifeboat towed the 23 foot vessel to the safety of Lyme Regis harbour after a 32 mile round trip, returning to harbour at 1925.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched at following a report of two people in the water with an inflatable dinghy nearby. Portland coastguards requested the lifeboat to search an area off the east beach of Charmouth. After a search lasting almost an hour, which also involved coastguards ashore, nothing was found and the search was called off.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched on service for the second time during Lifeboat Week. A canoe had capsized and its occupant was in the water when the lifeboat was alerted by Portland coastguards. The male canoeist was picked up by the passing pleasure boat Pride of Exmouth. After ensuring that the canoeist was safe and well – if a little cold – the lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis harbour.

The lifeboat was called out for the second time, when a small inflatable boat drifted from the pool behind the town’s harbour. The tender, fitted with an outboard motor, broke loose close to the pontoon and drifted to the Black Ven area – around a quarter of a mile – before it was taken in tow by the lifeboat and returned to Lyme Regis harbour.

A report from a fishing boat that a kayak had been seen sinking was investigated by the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat, Pearl of Dorset. The lifeboat was launched and a thorough search was carried out in the Black Ven and Charmouth areas. Nothing was found and it was agreed with Portland coastguards that the search should be called off at 2020.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched when it answered a mayday call to a fishing boat reported to be taking on water. The solo crew member fired a flare to attract the lifeboat crew to his 18 foot boat west of Humble Point. He had stemmed the flow of water into his boat and the lifeboat escorted his vessel to the safety of Axmouth harbour.

1.50pm

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat went to the aid of a speedboat after it ran aground at the west end of Monmouth Beach. The speedboat’s engines had lost power and Portland coastguard asked the lifeboat to assist the crew of 4 from the 12 foot vessel. The speedboat was refloated and towed by the lifeboat back to the safety of Lyme Regis Harbour at 1415.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched to rescue a man believed to have a broken ankle on an isolated beach east of West Bexington. Two members of the lifeboat crew went ashore to assess the situation. The man was then transferred to the lifeboat by stretcher and taken to West Bay harbour to a waiting ambulance.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat, the Pearl of Dorset, was launched at the request of Portland coastguards following reports of a man missing in a dinghy between Lyme and Seaton. The lifeboat was launched and at 8.10pm the man was traced, safe and well, ashore at Beer. It was reported that he had been seen since 10am the same day. Coastguards requested the lifeboat to continue searching for the dinghy, and a boat matching the dinghy’s description was spotted ashore at Charmouth.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat crew and coastguards rescued a 61 year old man after his 24 foot yacht struck rocks and later sank off Golden Cap. The man issued a mayday after apparently getting lost in dense fog. Two lifeboatmen boarded the yacht to check the man’s condition and helped him ashore. He was later winched to safety from the beach by the coastguard helicopter.

The lifeboat made three attempts to tow the yacht, Harncer, clear of the rocks but she started to take on water and began to sink. Two crew members swam 50 meters ashore before attaching a tow rope to the yacht. Lifeboat helmsman Tim Edwards said: “It was a very difficult rescue in thick fog and with darkness falling. Visibility was down to 20 meters and because of the rocks we could not get close enough to take the man off the yacht and on to the lifeboat. Instead we put two crew ashore and they managed to get to the yacht, which was wedged between rocks but close to the beach. It must have been very frightening for the yachtsman. We tried to save the yacht, which must have been holed, but our main aim was to save a life.” The lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis at 10.40pm.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was called out by coastguards to assist a broken down fishing vessel. The 24 foot boat was a mile and a half south-east of Lyme Regis with one man aboard. The lifeboat towed the disabled vessel to the safety of Lyme Regis harbour.

The lifeboat was then involved in two more alerts. The first was to a reported overturned canoe off Seatown which turned out to be a diver’s marker so no action was required. Before returning to harbour, the lifeboat was asked by coastguards to assist a man who apparently had been swimming for an hour and a half in the Fisherman’s Gap area off Seaton. The man, who was said to have swallowed water, was taken by coastguard helicopter to hospital in Dorchester.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched following reports of a child wearing an inflatable ring drifting out to sea off Charmouth beach. The child’s 39 year old father swam some 100 metres and brought his nine year old daughter back to safety on the beach. The lifeboat stood by on scene until coastguards confirmed the couple were safe and well.

Lyme Regis lifeboat, the Pearl of Dorset, was at sea for three hours after going to the assistance of two vessels with engine problems. The lifeboat launched following a report of an 18 foot cabin cruiser which had broken down off Seaton. At 1801 the coastguard reported that the cruiser had been towed to safety in Axmouth by another vessel. The lifeboat was then asked to assist a 31 foot yacht, Skyrider, which had run short of fuel with four people on board.eight miles south of West Bexington. After sailing 17 miles from Seaton the lifeboat took Skyrider under tow into the safety of West Bay Harbour.

A 30 foot fishing boat took on water and sank a mile off Freshwater, Dorset. Two men aboard the boat were picked up by another vessel after some ten minutes in the water and taken to West Bay Harbour. The fishing boat sank only seconds before the lifeboat arrived on scene.

3.53pm

Coastguards requested the launch of the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat on Saturday afterrnoon after reports of a capsized kayak off Charmouth. No kayak was found, but it was later confirmed that a red and white kayak on the beach was the vessel that had capsized earlier and no one was injured.

Lyme Regis lifeboat was launched to assist a 4 metre rigid inflatable boat with engine failure. The boat, with two men aboard, was towed to the safety of Lyme Regis Harbour.

As this incident concluded at 1840 the lifeboat was called to an injured man between Pinhay and Seven Rock Point The man had fallen and injured his head, and was winched aboard the coastguard helicopter and taken to hospital in Dorchester.

7.40am

Lyme Regis RNLI Lifeboat crew recovered the body of an elderly man from the sea near the Cobb. An eye witness called emergency services, and the lifeboat was launched. The victim was thought to be a local man in his seventies. The body was recovered from the sea at Pokers Pool just outside the harbour.

7.34pm

Lyme Regis’ RNLI lifeboat was launched on Friday night when coastguards reported a 30 foot yacht apparently sailing towards West Bay without navigation lights.  The lifeboat, was on the scene within ten minutes and found the yacht at anchor with six people aboard.  The lifeboat crew were told the yacht would remain at anchor until the early hours of Saturday before heading for Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat, the Pearl of Dorset, answered her first call of the New Year on Saturday, when a fishing boat developed engine trouble off West Bay.  The 5 metre boat, with two lobster fishermen aboard, broke down and was at anchor when the lifeboat took it in tow and returned the vessel and its crew to the safety of West Bay harbour.

1.33pm

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched to investigate reports of a vessel on fire in the West Bay area.  After a search by the lifeboat and the coastguard helicopter a fishing boat with engine trouble was traced to West Bay harbour.

The 30 foot vessel had developed a fault in its cooling system causing a cloud of smoke.  No-one was injured in the incident.  The lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis harbour at 2.10pm.

The call was the 35^th emergency response so far this year by the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat, Pearl of Dorset.

5.36pm

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat crew rescued a man from the sea as a speedboat and a jet-ski capsized west of the town’s harbour.  The speedboat owner launched his speedboat when he saw the jet-ski and its rider in difficulties close to the shore.  But when he tried to prevent the jet-ski sinking his speedboat began to fill with water and started to sink.

The lifeboat was quickly on the scene and rescued the speedboat crewman.  The jet-ski rider made his own way ashore.  Lifeboat crew members ashore used ropes to pull the speedboat on to the beach.

3.05pm

10.48am

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat today joined the search for a 64 year old local woman reported missing from her home since the early hours of Tuesday morning the 7^th of October. The lifeboat, is assisting police and coastguards searching cliffs and beaches in the Lyme Regis and Charmouth areas.  The missing woman, Mrs Julianna Gregory, from Lyme Regis, is 5ft 5” tall, fair haired and is thought to be wearing a black coat and black trousers.

There were no sightings by the Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat crew and the lifeboat returned at 1320.

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched to assist an 18 foot cruiser which had broken down five miles south east of the resort.  The lifeboat towed the vessel, with two people aboard, to the safety of West Bay harbour.

2.04pm

2.58pm

A speedboat with five people aboard was towed to safety by Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat after it struck rocks near the town’s harbour on Bank Holiday Monday.  The lifeboat was launched after a report that the speedboat had crossed and hit Broad Ledge, east of the harbour.

Two people had entered the water to check the boat’s condition while three others remained on board.  The lifeboat crew quickly realised that no-one was injured and took the speedboat, with its occupants, under tow to the safety of Lyme Regis harbour.

6.35pm

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched to assist the crew of three of a cabin cruiser who were reported to be ‘lost and disoriented.’  The three men aboard the 24 foot cruiser, Triolet, had set out from Guernsey and were said to be bound for Start Point.  But they called for help when they were heading for Chesil Beach at Abbotsbury.

A coastguard helicopter monitored the cruiser’s position while the Lyme Regis lifeboat covered 17 miles in rough seas to the scene.  The lifeboat put one crew member aboard the cruiser to act as helmsman while the lifeboat escorted the vessel to the safety of West Bay harbour.  The crew of the cruiser were said to be cold and wet, but otherwise unhurt.  The Lyme Regis lifeboat returned to harbour at 9.52pm. 

9.30pm

A widespread search of the Dorset Coast began when the RNLI Lyme Regis lifeboat was launched.  Sidmouth rescue joined the search along with coastguards, Weymouth lifeboat and the coastguard helicopter from Portland.  After extensive sweeps of a seventeen mile stretch between Culverhole Point and Abbotsbury the search was called off at 8.15am on the 14th August.

Early reports had suggested that shouts for help had been heard just outside Lyme Regis harbour and that possibly two canoeists were involved.  The search was called off when two men who had been using a surf board and a canoe came forward and explained they had been shouting but were not in any difficulties.

12.46am

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat was launched in rough seas and heavy rain following a report of an unidentified object off Charmouth beach.  A dog walker reported the object to coastguards who searched from the shore while the lifeboat crew used searchlights and fired parachute flares to illuminate the area.

12.00noon

Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat and the coastguard helicopter from Portland rescued two men after their cabin cruiser overturned at the mouth to the River Axe.  The helicopter airlifted one man, and the second, who was found lashed to the hull of the vessel, was taken aboard the lifeboat before being winched to the helicopter.  Both men were then landed ashore safe and well, and their boat was beached.

The cabin cruiser had apparently overturned after striking the sand bar at the entrance to Axmouth harbour.  The first vessel at the scene was the Spirit of Sussex, a 5metre rigid inflatable boat owned by an RNLI volunteer education/sea safety officer on holiday in the area, Andy Morgan.

Mr Morgan with his two children, Amy 11, and Callum 13, aboard, picked up the coastguard call for assistance. He found a lifejacket and passed the information to the coastguard.  Mr Morgan, from Horsham, West Sussex, said “We stood by throughout the rescue and I was only too pleased to help as much as I could before the helicopter and lifeboat arrived.”

1.44pm

7.51pm

The crew of Lyme Regis RNLI lifeboat assisted coastguards in the rescue of a 15 year old boy trapped in silt at Charmouth. The boy had sunk up to his knees with the tide coming in when the lifeboat was launched.

Two of the lifeboat crew went ashore to assist. The lifeboat’s medical adviser, Dr. Forbes Watson, also went to the scene. The boy, whose father was with him, was released from the silt by coastguards.  He was said to be cold but otherwise unhurt and did not need hospital treatment.  The boy is on holiday from Birmingham with his family. 

3.29pm

An 18 foot pleasure boat with four men aboard was towed to the safety of Lyme Regis harbour by the town’s RNLI lifeboat after its engine broke down  200 yards off Charmouth beach.

Boat owner David Hillier, from Cheltenham, said “The crew of the Lyme Regis lifeboat were brilliant.  I did not want to call them out, but so many people in other boats nearby ignored our waves for help that I finally felt I had to call the coastguards who alerted the lifeboat.  I just felt that anyone with a knowledge of the sea would have realised that waving our arms meant we needed help.  In the end we had to call for proper help and the RNLI provided that very quickly”.

Lyme Regis lifeboat was launched and soon located the youths who had apparently climbed the cliff after collecting driftwood.  A helicopter from RAF Chivenor was called in when it was realised it would be too dangerous to send in a cliff rescue team.  Lyme Regis lifeboat landed one member of the crew to assist ashore while illuminating the area with searchlights.  The helicopter successfully winched the two to safety at the top of the cliff at 11.44pm.

2.33pm

A ten year old boy reported missing at Charmouth was spotted under a cliff face only minutes later by the crew of the RNLI’s Lyme Regis lifeboat.  The lifeboat was launched and by 2.47pm the boy had been found safe and well, walking near Cain’s Folly, east of Charmouth.  The boy was spotted by the crew, who then directed coastguards ashore to meet him. 

7.49pm

The Lyme Regis RNLI inshore lifeboat was launched this evening to search for a 73-year-old man suffering from severe dementia missing in the area of Beer, Devon.

The lifeboat was soon released from its search between Culverhole Point and Beer, as directed by Portland Coastguard, after the man was found by Devon and Cornwall Police, safe and sound in the village of Branscombe.

The lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis at 8.25pm where it was washed down, refuelled and made ready for its next launch.

3.29pm

The Lyme Regis RNLI inshore lifeboat was launched to rescue a lone sailor whose small sailing dinghy had capsized in strong winds just off Charmouth Beach, Dorset.  When the lifeboat arrived on the scene shortly after being called out, the crew found that the man had abandoned his dinghy and swum ashore with the assistance of a retired coastguard who had spotted him from the beach.

A member of the lifeboat crew swam ashore to check whether or not the casualty had any injuries and to await the arrival of the local coastguard unit. A Coastguard rescue helicopter remained in the vicinity until it was known that the casualty did not required airlifting to hospital.  The lifeboat then returned to Lyme Regis to pick up an additional crew member returning to the capsized yacht which, together with its mast and sail, was lifted aboard the lifeboat and taken back to Lyme Regis, arriving at 4.22pm.

5.19pm

On arriving at the scene, the lifeboat crew found that the children had been recovered by a boat already in the vicinity, and were safe and well. The lifeboat then returned to Lyme Regis.

From their position out to sea, the lifeboat crew were able to talk to the coastguard cliff rescue team, directing them to the casualties’ position. “It was another instance of a lifeboat being able to assist with a land-based rescue from out at sea by spotting for the coastguards who may not immediately be able to see the casualties,” said Phil Ball, a deputy launching authority at Lyme Regis lifeboat station.

4.33pm

The Lyme Regis RNLI inshore lifeboat was launched to rescue two people trapped by the tide on a retaining wall behind Back Beach, to the east of the Dorset town.

On arrival at the scene, Rob Crabbe, who was helming the lifeboat, sent crew member Tim Edwards to swim ashore to the casualties. The crew member then escorted the people, who were extremely cold and wet, to meet up with members of the local coastguard unit who had by then made their way to the beach.

The casualties were then driven to the lifeboat station where they were given warm showers and hot drinks to prevent the onset of hyperthermia.

Lyme Regis-based duty deputy launching authority Phil Ball, who was responsible for co-ordinating the lifeboat’s part in the search, said that on some occasions, a lifeboat crew can gain access to an isolated beach and see things from the sea, which are not visible from the cliff tops. “An example of this is when a casualty is trapped half way up a cliff and cannot be seen by the coastguard rescue team at the top the cliff.  From the sea, the lifeboat crew can see the casualty and direct the coastguards to the exact spot where they should set up their cliff rescue equipment.  The missing children incident was a case in point and demonstrates the co-operation that exists between the emergency services.”

5.47pm

The Lyme Regis RNLI inshore lifeboat was launched to assist in the search for a man believed missing around the area of Beer Head, Devon.

The lifeboat was tasked to search between Seaton Hole – to the west of Seaton – and Branscombe, in a coordinated operation with Coastguard helicopter India Juliet, local coastguard units and the Sidmouth lifeboat.

Following reports that the missing man had been spotted inland, the main emphasis of the search moved ashore and as a result the Lyme Regis lifeboat was released from the search at 6.40pm to return to Lyme Regis.

2.20pm

The Lyme Regis RNLI inshore lifeboat was launched following reports of a person who may have fallen into the water from Broad Ledge, close to the main beach at Lyme Regis.

The lifeboat arrived quickly on the scene and was joined by the Coastguard search and rescue helicopter Victor Alpha, based at Portland. An extensive search was made of the area – the helicopter using its thermal imaging equipment. The local Coastguard unit and police were also involved.

The search continued for 1½ hours and nothing was found. The lifeboat returned to station at approximately 4.00pm.

3.36pm

The lifeboat was launched in response to a Mayday call from a dive boat ½ mile south of Eype Mouth, near Bridport, Dorset.  The dive boat, with engine trouble, had been taken in tow by the West Bay Harbour launch but the divers were still below and unaware of the problems on the surface.  A coastguard search and rescue helicopter and two other dive boats had also responded to the call for help. 

The lifeboat crew decided to stay within sight of the divers’ marker buoy which was, together with the divers, moving with the tide and indicating their position below.  The divers surfaced soon after the lifeboat began tracking the buoy and were taken on board with their equipment.  They were taken into West Bay harbour before the lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis.

7.00pm

The lifeboat was again launched to aid a young man reported to be cut off by the tide on Back Beach, Lyme Regis.  When located he was not convinced that he was in any danger but agreed to being taken back to the harbour on board the lifeboat.

8.11pm

The lifeboat was launched for a third time in the day to rescue a father and his thirteen year old son after their catamaran, The Missy Moo, had capsized to the east of Charmouth, Dorset.  They were clinging to the upturned catamaran when the lifeboat arrived and took them on board.  The Missy Moo was righted but had taken on water in one of the hulls and was unstable.  The lifeboat helmsman decided, in view of the swell, that it would be safer to tow it back to Lyme Regis harbour rather than try to return it to its nearby launch point on Charmouth beach.  The father and son were beginning to show signs of hypothermia so, once back to the lifeboat station, were given warm showers and were attended by the crew’s paramedic.

6.16pm

Two inflatable dinghies were reported to be drifting out to sea ¾ mile off Freshwater, near Burton Bradstock, Dorset.  The lifeboat was launched to provide aid but, en route, it was learned that a local boat had already picked up the two young men from the dinghies.  The lifeboat was asked to take the two young men on board and return them to a waiting mobile coastguard unit on Freshwater beach.

While returning to Lyme Regis the lifeboat was asked to help another coastguard unit at a landslip just east of Golden Cap.  Nobody was found to be trapped on the beach by the landslip so the lifeboat returned to Lyme Regis.

8.13pm

The lifeboat was launched to investigate a report of a rubber dinghy seen to be empty and drifting towards Back Beach, east of Lyme Regis.  After a brief search and enquiries of people on the beach the lifeboat returned to the station and logged the call as ‘false alarm with good intent’.

A report of people trapped by the incoming tide on East Beach, a short distance east of Lyme Regis, led to the launching of the lifeboat.  The crew found a father with two young daughters who had reached the beach from above and intended to return the same way.  It was agreed it might be safer to leave by way of the lifeboat.  They were taken on board and  taken back to Lyme Regis harbour.

10.05am

The lifeboat was launched to help two children who had capsized their canoe off the beach at Seaton, Devon.  At the scene the lifeboat crew learned from a mobile coastguard unit that the children had been able to swim ashore.

12.30pm

The lifeboat was launched at the request of the Lyme Regis harbour master to investigate reports of four large oil slicks reported to be drifting towards Lyme Regis from the containership Napoli.  The ship appeared to be breaking up during re-floating operations off Branscombe, Devon. The lifeboat took the harbourmaster out to make the survey and returned to station by 1.45pm. The request had come to the lifeboat station because the low tide meant that no commercial craft were able to leave the harbour.  The lifeboat crew was raised by telephone calls rather than by the normal emergency paging.

6.33pm

The lifeboat was launched to aid people cut off by the incoming tide at East Beach, Lyme Regis.  A crewmember swam to the shore to find one man prepared to wait until the tide dropped enough to allow him to leave.  Further along the beach the crewmember again swam ashore to a man and woman on a wall above the tide-line.  An attempt to lead the couple along to a waiting Coastguard team was foiled by a dangerous landslip that blocked the way. It was decided that it would be safer to take all three people off via a groyne.  The lifeboat coming into the groyne three times and taking off one person each time achieved this.  All three people were delivered safely back to Lyme Regis by 7.25pm.

He was taken on board the lifeboat, which quickly returned to the boathouse in The Cobb harbour where the casualty was later reunited with his wife. They are regular visitors to Lyme Regis from their home in St. Albans.

A reported sighting of two red flares about ½ mile off West Bay, Dorset, caused the lifeboat to be launched.  A search revealed nothing and some additional information suggested that the flares might have been set off inland rather than at sea.  The search was called off and recorded as a “false alarm with good intention”.

The lifeboat was launched to assist a windsurfer who had been reported as being in trouble with a broken mast off Monmouth Beach, Lyme Regis.  It was quite quickly discovered that the surfer had been able to make his own way safely ashore and the lifeboat returned to station.

The lifeboat was refuelled and a relief crew took her in very testing conditions back to Lyme Regis where she was ready again for service by 15 minutes past midnight.  The Exmouth lifeboat accompanied the Lyme Regis lifeboat to Lyme and then continued on, reaching Exmouth two hours later.

The lifeboat was launched to assist a small dinghy called Turtle which was drifting with engine problems about a mile off Charmouth beach, Dorset.  The dinghy was located and towed into the Cobb harbour, Lyme Regis.

2½ miles south west of West Bay, Dorset a diver was overdue for return to his dive-boat, Blue Horizon.  The lifeboat was called to aid the search but aborted its journey to the scene when it was learned that the Coastguard Search and Rescue helicopter had spotted and directed the dive boat to the diver.

A report of a boat with engine trouble caused the lifeboat to be launched.  Three men were fishing in a 14-foot, open day boat about a kilometre off Hive Beach near Burton Bradstock, Dorset.  It turned out that the engine problems had occurred earlier and been resolved by the men returning to shore and replacing the engine with a spare.  The dive boat Calypso from West Bay had heard of the problem on the VHF radio emergency channel and stood by during the problem period.  The incident was logged as a “false alarm with good intent”.