Cut off by the tide DURING THE AFTERNOON of Sunday, January 3, 1988 the station honorary secretary of Staithes and Runswick was informed by a member of the public that four adults and two boys were cut off by the tide a few yards from the lifeboathouse.

At 1500, three of the lifeboat crew, Helmsman Stewart Porritt and Crew Members Kevin Riley and David Archer went to their assistance, Riley and Archer donning dry suits before wading out to join those maroonedwhile Porritt launched a small rowing boat and proceeded to the scene.

The crew members carried the two boys through waist-deep water to the safety of Cowbar Breakwater before assisting the two adults into the rowing boat, which was then hauled back to shore by a rope. In a letter of appreciation to the station, Captain George Cooper, chief of operations, commended the three lifeboatmen for their prompt response to what could have turned into a dangerous situation..