Wells, Norfolk - At 2.45 p.m. on 31st October, 1969, the coxswain noted that the fishing boat Blanche had not returned to harbour with the other local boats. At 3.35 the lifeboat Ernest Tom Neathercoat was launched in a fresh westerly wind with a choppy sea. The tide was ebbing.

The life-boat came up with the fishing boat, with two people on board, nine miles north east of Wells.

Her engine had broken down. She was taken in tow to Wells, and the life-boat returned to her station at 8.45..