Walton and Frinton, Essex - At 11.8 a.m. on 4th March, 1966, a message was received that the tanker Blandford had a sick man on board and that the services of a doctor were urgently required. After contacting a doctor the life-boat Edian Courtauld left her station at noon to rendezvous between the Sunk lightvessel and the N.E. Gunfleet buoy. There was a light north westerly breeze and a slight sea. The tide was ebbing. The doctor was put aboard the tanker, and a helicopter arrived to assist if necessary. The doctor decided that the sick man's condition was such that he should be taken ashore by the life-boat. The man was landed safely and transferred to an ambulance which conveyed him to hospital. The life-boat returned to her station at 2.55 p.m..