A collective letter of thanks, signed by the Secretary of the Royal National Life-beat Institution, Mr. Stirling Whorlow, O.B.E., has been sent to Coxswain John Sugrue and the crew of the Valentia (Co. Kerry) life-boat for their efforts on 22nd September, 1968, when the motor fishing vessel Sea Flower was lost.

The life-boat put out in a south westerly gale gusting to force 10. Visibility was poor, and to save time Coxswain Sugrue took the life-boat close inside Puffin Island. A long search was carried out without success, and it was not until after 6 p.m. the following day that the life-boat crew learnt that the bodies of five men who had been aboard the motor fishing vessel had been washed ashore..