Burnham-On-Sea Coastguards were called out at the weekend to investigate two empty boats anchored in the estuary near the town’s jetty — only to find the occupants had left the vessels in order to have a picnic on a sand bar.
The Coastguard team was paged at 3.45pm on Saturday (August 27th) after several walkers on Burnham seafront raised concern.
A Coastguard spokesman said: “There was concern as the occupants had boarded their tenders and headed off to a sand bar that had become exposed at low tide, leaving their main vessels anchored in the bay.”
“As our team arrived and got a visual on them using binoculars it soon became clear that the pleasure craft occupants had decided it looked like a good spot for a picnic.”
“They were seen just packing up their picnic basket and folding their blanket up and began heading back to the main craft as the tide was coming in and the sand bar was disappearing.”
He adds: “We kept a visual on them until they were back onboard their pleasure cruisers and safe. They kept themselves busy until the tide was high enough to head off.”
“While the sand bar was firm and seemed OK to stand on, it is not something we recommend.”
“Thank you to those who were concerned and did the right thing in dialing 999 and asking for the Coastguard.”
Pictured: The two anchored boats off Burnham-On-Sea jetty at the weekend (Photo: Burnham Coastguard)
