On the evening of the 9th October the steam drifter Excellent, of Buckie, bound to Yarmouth, with a crew of eleven, stranded outside the piers. A moderate S.S.E. gale was blowing, with a rough sea and heavy rain. The drifter began to bump heavily, and appeared to be in danger of becoming a wreck. She made signals for help and the motor life-boat Stanhope Smart was launched from the South Beach at 7.25 P.M.

The motor coble Excelsior, with a crew of four, and a pulling boat, with a crew of five, also put out to help. The Board of Trade life-saving rocket ap- paratus was also ready. Ropes were eventually made fast between the Excellent and the piers, and she was hove into the harbour, the crowds on the piers helping to haul on the ropes, the life-boat standing by as she came in. The drifter was badly damaged.

Considerable risk was run by the men in the pulling boat, and some by the men in the coble, which was damaged.

The service lasted about three hours.— Rewards: Life-boat, £23 5s.; the Excelsior and the pulling boat, £10 7s. 6d.; the Excelsior, to repair damage, £2, and 5s. for fuel used..