Outboard failed A SMALL BOAT which had fired a hand flare off Crackington Haven was reported to the honorary secretary of Bude lifeboat station by Hartland Coastguard at 1500 on Saturday May 29. Maroons were fired and at 1505 the D class inflatable lifeboat, manned by Helmsman Jonathan Ball and Crew Members Timothy Marshall and William Cook, was launched into high surf.

It was a fine afternoon but a fresh breeze was blowing from the south east.

The sea was slight but there was a swell and the tide was ebbina so that at theharbour entrance the waves were rougher and the ground swell heavy.

Once out of the harbour the lifeboat made for the casualty, eight miles west south west of Bude, at full speed. The small boat was found, with her crew of two, drifting towards Pencannow Point; her outboard engine had failed, the sheer pin broken.

The casualty was towed out of immediate danger and then, because of the ground swell on Bude Harbour bar and the ebbing tide, she was brought alongside the lifeboat, made fast and towed the five miles to the nearest harbour, at Boscastle. When they arrived, Boscastle Harbour had dried out, so the casualty was beached and her crew landed.

The lifeboat returned to station at 1715 and, as Bude Harbour had also dried out by that time, she was recovered by Land Rover. She was rehoused by 1750..