APPENDICITIS At 7.15 p.m. on 27th June, 1965, the local doctor notified the honorary secretary that a man was seriously ill with appendicitis, and asked for the use of the life-boat to transport the patient to the mainland. No other suitable boat was available and at 8 o'clock the life-boat Mabel Marion Thompson with the patient on board slipped her moorings and proceeded to Rossaveel. There was a fresh north-westerly breeze and a calm sea.

The tide was ebbing. The patient was landed at Rossaveel and the fife-boat returned to her station at 11.50 p.m..