The following letter, extracts of which are published here, was received in September, 1968, from Raymond Baxter, formerly Director of Motoring Publicity, The British Motor Corporation Ltd., and well-known television com- mentator, enclosing a cheque for £25.

Mr. Baxter, who lives at Denham, Bucks, wrote: 'The 46-foot motor yacht Janthea, which my 17-year-old son and I had led from Dunkirk to Calais and Ramsgate aboard our 30-foot L'Orage, took us in tow when our engine stopped between the West Last and the Spaniard at 1950 on 24th August on passage to Queenborough. Subsequently in a beam sea, and because of the speed of the tow, a steering wire parted. Unable to hold UOrage steady by hand on the short tiller in the rising sea, we gave Janthea a course for Harty ferry. She ran aground on the Pollard Spit because the skipper failed to see the unlit buoys as darkness fell, and on tow, we were in no position to navigate for him.

TRANSMITTER OUT OF ACTION 'My son boarded Janthea, the anchor was dropped, and with two warps forrard, UOrage was safe but uncomfortable on a rising Spring tide and north east by force 5 and freshening wind.

'An attempt to get a weather forecast from the North Foreland proved Janthea's transmitter to be unserviceable, and there was no response on the Mayday frequency. Anchor bearings suggested that the hook was holding, butthe sea continued to mount as the wind freshened. Our only known light was Whitstable Street. All was well unless anything parted, in which case we could have been poorly placed particularly if the wind continued to freshen, as seemed possible.

'At 2300 hours it was therefore decided to fire a distress rocket, followed by flares at five-minute intervals. Six were fired. At 2330 a bright white light proved to be your IRB from Whitstable skippered by Fred Downs. One expects R.N.L.I.

life-boat men to be brave and efficient. What impressed me so much was that these men were also kind. After a short conference it was agreed that they would escort us into Whitstable which was exactly what we required. They told us the Southend boat was on its way, but they arranged her recall. About an hour later we were in Whitstable harbour. What made my day was that they said we had done the right thing in calling for assistance.

'PERFECT FOR THE JOB' 'Just another very minor incident. There was no heroism, no imminent danger, no injury, and a broken stanchion on my boat was the only damage sustained— but the IRB was the only craft which could have reached us, she had never operated at night before, she was perfect for the job, and her crew could not have behaved in a more admirable manner.'.