A lone fisherman made a mayday call on 3 December 2008 after catching his hand in his boat’s winch 5 miles off the Kent coast. When the Dungeness lifeboat, the Mersey class Pride and Spirit, arrived, he had freed himself but had serious arm injuries. Four crew members (including two from Rye Harbour's inshore lifeboat) went onboard to give first aid and transfer the man to the lifeboat on a stretcher. As the tide was out on the return to shore, the station’s tractor was used to transport the man to the waiting ambulance.