Two girls were rescued after getting stranded in mud on Brean beach on Sunday afternoon (August 9th) during a busy day for the rescue crews.
The girls had been trying out padde boarding for the first time without being aware that the tide was going out – and they were left stranded in mud at 2.25pm.
A Coastguard spokesman said: “Stand up paddle boarding has become very popular over the last few years and while visiting Brean Beach with their family two young ladies were having their first go on Sunday. Unfortunately, what they didn’t do before setting off was check the tide times.”
“While they were enjoying the day they didn’t notice that the tide was falling and that the exposed beach was sticky mud.”
“When they realised how far the tide was falling they decided to attempt to get back to shore but the mud proved to be too sticky to make any progress.”
“A 999 call was made asking for the Coastguard and once the information was collected by our Coastguard Operations Centre we were tasked along with the BARB Search & Rescue hovercraft to go and collect the stranded paddlers.”
“The lifeboat crews had been out most of the day training in the bay and one of their boats went along to keep a visual watch on them and to tell them to wait for Coastguards. We were arriving on scene and kitted two of our mud rescue technicians up ready to board the hovercraft to fly out.”
“The radio crackled into life with a message from the RNLI Lifeboats team. The two girls were heading to the boat so they took them on board. With this new information we quickly changed our plan and disembarked our mud techs from the hovercraft and sent the BARB team to carry out a casualty transfer from boat to hovercraft and then shuttle them back to a very worried, tearful and relieved mum who was experiencing a roller coaster of emotions as she watched on.”
“Once back on safe ground and the tears of relief out the way they thanked all involved and headed back up the beach.”
“If you are venturing to a beach, any beach in the world, a quick Internet search can give you so much important information about tides and dangers so you can plan your trip, stay safe and enjoy your day making the right kind of memories.”
“A good call from the member of the public, and please remember not to put yourself in danger while trying to warn others, you could become a casualty yourself. Dial 999 and ask for the Coastguard.”
Burnham RNLI D-Class helmsman Nathan Meager said: “The mud was extremely soft and sticky, and the hovercraft was able to take the two girls back to the shore. We dropped off the body boards in the care of Burnham Coastguard.”
During a busy day of training, the Burnham RNLI crew also assisted a power vessel, which had run aground on the far side of the Island, but had self-recovered. The crew of the power boat were assisted, and escorted to the safety of the sailing club pontoons.
