TOW FOR OYSTER SMACK AFTER BREAKDOWN Ramsgate, Kent. At 1.42 on the afternoon of the 14th April, 1963, the coastguard informed the honorary secretary that a vessel was firing flares off North Foreland. The life-boat Michael and Lily Davis put out at 2.7 in a fresh southwesterly breeze and a slight sea. It was two and a half hours before high water.

The life-boat found the oyster smack Royal Native of Faversham with a crew of four on board. Her sails had been carried away. A helicopter had already taken a ten-year-old boy who was very seasick off the Royal Native and landed him at Manston. The oyster smack's engine had broken down and two members of the life-boat crew were put aboard to help secure a tow line. The life-boat took her in tow to Ramsgate harbour after asking for an ambulance to meet two of the crew of the Royal Native who needed medical attention. The lifeboat finally reached her moorings at five o'clock..