BARB volunteers were called out on Friday morning (July 28th) to help the owner of a speed boat that had taken on water while being launched from Burnham-On-Sea beach.
The owner had tried to launching the small powerboat next to the town’s jetty when the waves had flooded it on the incoming tide. The jetty supervisor spotted the boat was in trouble and called for the help of BARB to help its owners, Sam and Tim Caswell, who are on holiday from Carterton in Oxfordshire.
Sam said: “We were trying to launch the boat in the shallow water but the sea was quite choppy and the waves came over the sides, inundating the boat with water. We struggled to keep control, fighting against the tide, and decided after 15 minutes that it was a no-go to launch. The jetty supervisor was so helpful and contacted the Coastguard, who in turn called out BARB. We were very grateful for their help.”
Mike Lowe, BARB Operations Manager, said: “The couple were unlucky – they were well equipped with safety equipment including life jackets, flares and radios – but got caught out with the waves. Once the tide had receded, we were happy to help them with bailing out the water from the boat and then recovering it so that it could be safely taken away by the owners on their trailer.”
