A man stranded on a catamaran surrounded by mud on one of the hottest days of the year has been rescued by Burnham-On-Sea’s rescue hovercrafts and Coastguards.
Crews from Burnham and Weston were called to Uphill beach on Sunday afternoon (August 11th) at 2.29pm when the man’s family raised the alarm.
The man, visiting from the Forest of Dean, said he had become stuck on his catamaran by the receding tide. With no shade in the hot sunshine, there was concern for his welfare.
BARB’s volunteers launched their two rescue hovercrafts on Uphill Beach and the man was taken onboard and flown up the beach to safety.
Several of the Coastguard mud rescue technicians and fire service team had also reached the man by wading across the mudflats to recover the catamaran.
Separately, Coastguards also tasked the BARB hovercrafts with carrying out a sweep of the tideline due to a large number of people wading across the mudflats to reach the sea at low tide. Safety advice was given.
A BARB spokesperson said: “This was a successful incident with a positive outcome thanks to joint working with the Coastguards and the fire service.”
“The man, who was shaken but unhurt, said he has misjudged the tide and thanked the teams for their help on one of the hottest days of the year.”
