Staithes RNLI lifeboat launched at 1:45pm on Sunday afternoon after a resident of the village spotted an object at sea which looked like it could be windsurfer in trouble.
The black object was first spotted about half a mile north of Staithes harbour but even with the aid of powerful binoculars it was difficult to identify exactly what it was.
Lee Jackson, the lifeboat helmsman, says:-
“The resident reported his sighting to the Lifeboat Operations Manager and I and we walked onto the pier with binoculars. All we could see was a black shape in the water and we could not rule out that it wasn’t a person in a wetsuit clinging to a windsurfing board. The only way to be sure no one was in trouble was to launch the lifeboat to check it out. The object turned out to be a long black sack which was partly inflated but at least we can rest assured that no one was in danger.”
The launch will be recorded as a false alarm but with good intent.
Staithes lifeboat returned to station at 2:10pm.