The RNLI Dart have had their second busiest year since the lifeboat station opened in November 2008, after a gap of 111 years.

On Wednesday, November 1, at 11.20am the RNLI Dart received their 44th callout, from a boat moored downstream from the Higher Ferry.

It turned out that the call was a false alarm with good intent, as the 36ft classic yacht tried out their wood burner for the first time.

When the fire brigade and the RNLI arrived at the location they struggled to locate the source of the smoke, until the fire chief identified the connection between the smoke and the wood burner.

On Monday, October 30, RNLI Dart received their 43rd shout from a L320 A listing yacht aground at Stoke Point.

The most call outs they have ever had in a year is 46, so with already 43 callouts this year, 2017 is proving to be at least the second busiest year with a chance of becoming the busiest year before too long.

On Monday night a single handed sailor was motoring from Brixham to Totnes when his 26ft yacht went aground as the tide fell at Stoke Point, on the River Dart near Stoke Gabriel.

The sailor managed to contact the coastguard by mobile phone and the RNLI Dart inshore lifeboat found his listing yacht in complete darkness 20 minutes later.

He was taken to Blackness Marine where he was met by the Dartmouth coastguard volunteers who were providing a communications link between the lifeboat and Falmouth Coastguard.

After which, the Coastguards drove him to Totnes and the lifeboat crew returned to the yacht, deployed the anchor and made the boat safe, before returning to the lifeboat station in Dartmouth.

There have also been two other callouts this week including an engine failure to a 32ft ketch returning home from Lyme Bay which was towed to the Town Pontoon.