The sighting of an empty dinghy by a coastwatch volunteer sparked a search mission.
Lowestoft Lifeboat was called out just after 11am on Saturday to reports of an empty dinghy off Kessingland.
Pakefield Coastwatch saw what they thought was an empty dinghy out to sea from their lookout on the cliff near Pontins Holiday Centre and reported it to the Coastguard.
Coxswain John Fox said the team rushed out to find an orange inflatable boat about three-quarters of a mile offshore, which was empty.
He added: 'We lifted it on board and then went close into the beach at Kessingland and spoke to some beach-goers to see if they could shed any light on who the inflatable belonged to. Then a bit further along the coast near Benacre Sluice we spoke to someone else who had seen the inflatable boat close to the beach without anyone in it. So we were stood down and put the call down to a false alarm with good intent.'
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