At 1138, during a routine training exercise, the lifeboat was requested to assist a 21' motor cruiser with three people on board, which was suffering engine problems in the entrance to the Swale.

Its main engine had failed, and although it had a spare emergency outboard, progress was slow in the choppy conditions.

The lifeboat found the craft half a mile off Shellness, and took it under tow. At 1220 Sheerness Inshore Lifeboat, which had also been on exercise, arrived to take over the tow, and took the craft back to Kingsferry Bridge, from where it had launched earlier in the day.