Any lifeboat launch can be risky, and a carriage launch from an exposed beach is particularly so. Overcoming a problem and completing a service is part of the tradition of the lifeboat service - well illustrated by an incident at Dungeness which led to the station receiving a letter of thanks from the Chairman of the RNLI.

On 4 October 1992 the Dungeness lifeboat Pride and Spirit was launching to the aid of a German yacht in a ME Force 8 to 9 when a particularly large wave swept under the lifeboat and jammed her in her carriage. The lifeboat was freed, the launch aborted and the lifeboat recovered by tractor; but meanwhile the carriage was being submerged by the rising tide and swept by heavy, breaking seas. Without thought for their own safety several people went into the water and managed to secure and then retrieve the carriage in a very arduous and hazardous operation. The lifeboat was returned to the carriage and then successfully launched under an hour from the first attempt.

The yacht was taken in tow and four people landed safely in Rye..