VOLUNTEER crews from Minehead’s Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) station carried out two separate rescues on Bank holiday Monday (May 6).

The station’s Atlantic-class lifeboat was launched at 2pm, six minutes after being tasked by Coastguards, to help the crew of a 16ft Orkney fishing vessel which was in trouble close to Hurlstone Point.

The well-equipped crew had radioed Coastguards for assistance after their propeller became entangled with their anchor line while fishing off the West Somerset coastline and the vessel was starting to take on water.

The lifeboat crew quickly went to work evacuating the crew and cutting the vessel's anchor line to allow it to be towed to calmer waters nearer Minehead.

The RNLI crew’s concern was at that stage of tide and in that location the vessel was threatened with inundation by a tidal stream of about five knots.

Once in calmer waters the entangled propeller was fixed and the crew resumed their return journey to Porlock Weir.

Throughout the rescue, local fishing vessel Teddie Boy, skippered by Michael Griffiths, stood by ready to assist if required, having rushed from Blue Anchor on hearing the Orkney crew’s distress call.

No sooner had the RNLI crews returned to their families, then Coastguards received a second emergency call and at 5pm both Minehead’s Atlantic and D Class lifeboats launched toward Kilve, where police reported a dog walker was cut off by the tide and already in the water between Kilve and Lilstock with the tall cliffs preventing their escape.

A Watchet Coastguard rope team and an RNLI crew from Burnham-on-Sea were also called to the scene, where it turned out the dog walker was not in the water but dry and safe, although cut off by the flooding tide.

A Coastguard team started to set up for a cliff rope rescue due to concern about a water extraction given to the lee shore conditions at the base of the cliff.

However, the Minehead RNLI crews decided on a rescue using the smaller D Class lifeboat and an extraction point further along the shoreline was identified.

Although out of our view from the clifftop, the Coastguards carried out a bear down manoeuvre to reach the stranded walker and their dogs and transfer them on to the lifeboat.

The walker and the dogs were safely taken to Watchet Harbour before the person made their way back to Kilve to recover their car.

Minehead RNLI helmsman Phil Sanderson said: “The rescues really highlight how versatile and skilled our crews are, and some great teamwork between us, Coastguard, and Teddie Boy.

“The tidal range in this area can pose a real risk to safety both on and off the water, and it is important to be aware of.”

A Coastguard spokesperson said all visitors to the coast should remember to check the tides times, speak to locals about where the tide might cut them off, and plan any visits to allow enough time to journey back to heir access points.