Tynemouth lifeboat crew rescued 18 people on one busy Saturday, 26 March. First, three trawlermen needed a tow home to Blyth after their vessel suffered an engine fire. Both Tynemouth lifeboats, along with RNLI colleagues from Cullercoats and Sunderland, spent 3 hours in the afternoon searching for a vessel in distress, which turned out to be a false alarm. Then the all-weather lifeboat was called out for another tow due to mechanical failure, this time of the 21m sail training yacht James Cook, with 15 school-age trainees onboard.