Wells Lifeboat was informed at 17:00 that the Hunstanton Lifeboat was towing a disabled 28' vessel towards Wells. The vessel, with one person on-board, had left Wells on the lunchtime tide on passage to Kings Lynn but had suffered a small electrical fire off Titchwell and lost all propulsion. After discussion with Humber Coastguard, Wells crew were paged to assemble at 17:46 and the inshore lifeboat with three crew onboard left the boathouse at 18:10 for a low water launch off Holkham beach. The ILB launched at 18:37 and rendezvoused with the Hunstanton Lifeboat and casualty vessel at 18:52. The vessel was brought into the bay and both crews assisted to securely anchor it. The skipper had made the decision to leave the vessel overnight so, with the vessel secured, Hunstanton lifeboat departed at 19:24 and Wells ILB returned to Holkham beach with the skipper at 19:45. The lifeboat and skipper returned to the boathouse at 20:10 from where the skipper, who lived in North Norfolk, set off for his home. The ILB was rehoused and made ready again for service by 20:45.

Weather Overcast Visibility Moderate Wind S2 Sea Slight

The inshore lifeboat was tasked by Humber Coastguard following two 999 calls from members of the public reporting people with dogs and a buggy cut off by the incoming tide on the sands to the west of Wells harbour entrance. The ILB launched with a crew of three from the boathouse at 15:26 by which time it was clear that some of the persons were wading back to the main beach. The ILB arrived on scene at 15:34 and spoke to the remaining people who indicated they would also walk off. The lifeboat checked the area and remained in the channel until all were safely back on the main beach. The boat was released at 14:37 and recovered and rehoused by 14:52.

Weather Fine Visibility Good Wind W2 Sea Slight

Humber Coastguard requested the all-weather lifeboat to assist a 27' cabin cruiser Suffolk Prospect with very low fuel on passage to Wells. The single-handed boat was off Weybourne but not making much headway and the skipper was concerned he would run out of fuel before reaching Wells. It was agreed to delay launching until the first of the flood tide and the ALB subsequently launched at 16:09 from Holkham beach. By this time the cruiser had in fact made reasonable progress, assisted by the last of the ebb, and was now approaching Wells. The lifeboat went alongside at 16:17 to transfer crew on-board to assess the situation. By now, the vessel was perilously low on fuel and a decision was made to attach a tow rather than risk the boat losing power while crossing the bar. The cruiser ran out of fuel as the tow was being rigged. The lifeboat waited for sufficient tide over the bar and at 16:50 began a slow tow into Wells. The crusier was safely moored up in the outer harbour at 17.27 and the lifeboat was recovered, washed down, refuelled and rehoused by 19:45.

Weather Fine Visibility Good Wind NE3 Sea Slight

The inshore lifeboat was paged by Humber Coastguard to assist the emergency services and respond to a potentially major incident on the east side of Wells harbour. A fire was clearly visible with the south-western part of the East Hills alight and flames quickly traversing both northward and into the downwind grassy area of the hills, fanned by a strong WNW wind.

The ILB launched at 14:32 with a crew of three and proceeded to East Hills to carry out a perimeter search of the area at a safe distance to see if anyone needed assistance which was fortunately not the case. The ILB then returned to the outer harbour to assist the fire brigade in getting equipment across to the East Hills. The ILB worked alongside additional vessels provided by the harbour, a local fisherman and the police marine unit, and aditional volunteer crew were deployed to assist fire fighters on the hills with equipment and hoses. In total, ten crew provided support on scene with a further eleven helping at the boathouse. By 18:30, the fire was under control and the flames extinguished but the area still smouldering. By this time, the tide was ebbing away and it was becoming increasingly difficult to pump water to the Hills so a decision was made to leave the scene, with the fire brigade intending to return the following day to douse down the remaining hot areas. The ILB returned to station at 18:45 and was rehoused by 20:00.

Unfortunately, the fire broke out again during the night and Wells fire crew attended in the small hours with the help of a local fishing boat. Clearly, significantly more resources were needed to extinguish the fire completely. Multiple fire crews assembled on Friday 30th ahead of the tide and the lifeboat crew were paged again at 15:04, the ILB launching at 15:45 with a crew of three and an additional eight volunteer crew being taken over the channel on harbour and support craft to again assist the fire fighting effort. With the area doused down by 18:15, all personnel and equipment returned to the station. The inshore lifeboat was rehoused and made ready for service by 19:45 and the fire crews finally departing at 20:45.

Weather Fine Visibility Good Wind WNW 4 Sea Slight

Humber Coastguard paged for an immediate launch of Wells Inshore Lifeboat to assist two children on a paddleboard blown offshore from Holkham beach by southerly winds. The ILB launched at 14:18 and arrived on-scene at 14:22 to find two members of the public had swum out to the paddleboard and helped the occupants back to the safety of the beach. Having checked with the family that all was well, the ILB was stood down and returned to station and was rehoused and made ready again for service by 15:05.

Weather Fine Visibility Good Wind SSE3 Sea Slight

Wells Inshore Lifeboat was paged for an immediate launch to assist in a search for a swimmer missing in Brancaster harbour. The ILB with a crew of three launched outside the boathouse on the first of the tide at 14:05 and proceeded out to sea in the direction of Brancaster. Hunstanton Lifeboat, Hunstanton Hovercraft and the SAR Helicopter from Humberside airport had also been tasked. The ILB arrived on scene at 14:27 and along with the other SAR vessels commenced a detailed search of the area. At 15:10 the helicopter identified the missing person in the water in the vicinity of Norton Creek. The Helicopter crew winched the person onboard and departed for Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. Both lifeboats and the hovercraft were stood down at 15:17. Wells ILB returned to Wells at 15:50 and was rehoused and made ready again for service by 16:15.

Weather Part cloudy Visibility Good Wind NW3 Sea Slight

Humber Coastguard initially paged the all-weather lifeboat when a Dutch 15m fishing vessel Mairi Grace with two persons on-board reported it had run aground making its way into Wells near high water on a neap tide after passage across the North Sea. The lifeboat crew assembled but it was quickly clear that the stranded vessel was aground near the Pool buoy just east of the boathouse and tthe all-weather lifeboat was unlikely to be of help. Instead, the inshore lifeboat with a crew of three was launched to investigate at 01:25 and was alongside at 01:30. With the large vessel hard aground but the two crew safe and well, it was decided that they would remain on-board overnight, lay anchors out come daylight and then attempt to refloat the vessel themselves on the following afternoon tide. The ILB was stood down and was washed down and rehoused by 02:00.

Weather Cloudy Visibility Good Wind NW1 Sea Slight