The morning of 1 June was sunny and calm – the perfect day for a sightseeing trip around Coquet Island bird reserve.

Amble’s lifeboats, the Mersey class The Four Boys and D class Rosemary Palmer, were called out at 11am to help a boat that had got caught in fishing ropes, with 12 sightseers onboard. Untangling was not possible, so it was up to the D class crew to cut her loose. Close to the island’s rocks, a tow rope was attached to the Mersey without delay for the return to Amble harbour.