Lifeboats were called out in Tynemouth after a sailing dinghy capsized leaving two people in the water.
The incident in the lower Tyne Harbour happened at about 12.20pm on Thursday only about an hour after the traditional Boxing Day dip swim at Tynemouth Longsands beach .
Nobody was injured and the capsized boat was eventually towed to safety.
A spokesperson for the Tynemouth Volunteer Life Brigade (TVLB) said: "HM Coastguard paged the Brigade and Tynemouth RNLI after a sailing dinghy capsized in the lower Tyne Harbour leaving a crew of two in the water.
"The inshore lifeboat from Tynemouth was on scene within a matter of minutes, as the incident occurred a few hundred metres from their station, and found that the dinghy crew had been assisted by a safety boat from a local yacht club which had recovered the crew from the water and was now towing the boat back across to the club’s slipway at South Shields.
"Once the dinghy and crew were safely ashore, the Lifeboat and Brigade were stood down and returned to their respective stations."
