COWES RNLI lifeboat reached a milestone on Thursday evening — its 600th shout.

The life-saving charity began operations in the town in 2008.

On Thursday it first went to the aid of a motorboat, and then to a yacht – both in potentially life-

threatening trouble in the choppy conditions.

The crew was alerted to the first emergency, which was the 600th, while they were undergoing their weekly crew meeting away from the station, through Zoom.

Coastguards had informed station operations manager Mark Southwell that a 24ft motorboat was grounded on rocks on the east side of Thorness Ledge, and the two people aboard were in urgent need of assistance in failing light and a heavy swell.

After launching at 7.25pm, the lifeboat located the craft, which was being monitored from the shore by Needles and Ventnor coastguard rescue teams.

It was then escorted back to its base at Town Quay, Southampton.

Despite the motorboat’s navigation lights failing off Fawley, the lifeboat completed the task, and returned to station at 9.55pm.

But just as the crew were washing down the lifeboat, there came a second alert, this time involving a 27ft yacht with engine trouble and two people aboard.

The stricken yacht’s location, on the edge of the main shipping channel, off Old Castle

Point, East Cowes, was helpfully pinpointed by a searchlight used by the pilot aboard the passing car-carrier, Auto Energy.

The lifeboat towed the yacht to Trinity Landing, Cowes.

In those 601 shouts, Cowes RNLI has assisted at least 753 people.