Ramsgate, Kent - At 7.13 p.m. on 26th October, 1969, news was received that red flares had been sighted off Broadstairs bay. At 7.30 the life-boat Michael and Lily Davis slipped her moorings in a slight south westerly wind with a corresponding sea. The tide was ebbing.

She found the converted ship's lifeboat Ruby, with the motor boat Curlew alongside her, in the vicinity of Broadstairs Knoll. Their engines had broken down. The two boats, with two men on board, were taken in tow to Ramsgate. The life-boat returned to her station at 8.30..