Exmouth lifeboat volunteers received a Mersey class lifeboat in May as a replacement for their Trent. Although another all-weather lifeboat, the Margaret Jean’s shallower draught proved more suited to the location when, on 8 May, she successfully negotiated the Swashway channel to aid a grounded yacht. The station’s inshore lifeboat was also launched and within half an hour the sailing boat had been towed off the sand on the rising tide.