An Australian couple got into trouble when their rubber inflatable boat almost got swept out into the Bristol Channel on Saturday
An Australian couple had a close shave on Saturday when they were rescued from being swept out to the Bristol Channel by an outgoing tide.
The alarm was raised when an eagle-eyed observer saw the two occupants frantically trying to row to shore on board their tiny 6ft inflatable, near Burnham beach, and alerted the coastguard. The Burnham-on-Sea lifeboat was launched at 4.20pm and managed to safely retrieve both occupants.
The couple, who are on holiday from Perth, Australia, had borrowed the small rubber boat to go fishing but once they had launched it they were unable to make headway against the fast flowing ebbing tide and found themselves being swept away from the beach.
Lifeboat helmsman, Nick Prout, said, “They were approximately a mile and a half out to sea when we reached them. It just goes to show that toy inflatable boats are not suitable for coastal waters, and local tide knowledge is essential when setting out to sea.”
Caption: The couple are transferred from the RNLI boat to the station’s soft-track tractorKay’s Cartto be carried over the soft mud at Burnham.
Credit: RNLI
