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View Full Version : What's the safest way to deal with lightning?



2biguns
07-02-2002, 02:00 PM
Living in the southeast, especially during the "sauna season" can be quite interesting from a weather standpoint.

Last Sunday Amy and I took off from the dock in front of a large thunderstorm. It looked as if the storm would be moving East to West, so we figured that as long as we were heading to the North at a reasonable clip we could get out ahead of it then wait for it to pass behind us.

2 hours later sitting a few miles past Magic Float's dock, we discovered that the storm had decided to follow us and there was no way home except through it. Amy hopped in the bed and grabbed a couple of pillows and enjoyed a book while I donned my trusty pancho and goggles and headed home. 1/2 way home the lightning started hitting pretty hard to the port side. Luckily home was to the right and we outran the worst of it.

Short of staying away from it, of course, what's the safest way of dealing with lightning:

1. stop in middle of lake and be a lightning rod
2. head into slough and hope trees act as lightning rod
3. haul a** and pray

Of course, in hindsight the most prudent action would have been to head over to the Nelems dock and steal beer :D but alas acting prudently was not on the agenda.

mattyboy
07-02-2002, 02:08 PM
There is no safe way to deal with Lightning,
don't be out in it, take cover , never be the highest point in an area.

I'm in the telephone industry and have seen lightning damage that is truely unbelievable eek! eek!

saw a golf cart explode on the course after being hit eek!

don't mess with it!

Matt

harbormaster
07-02-2002, 03:42 PM
Stay at home, whine on the Donzi Boards that the weather is bad and have everyone mess with you because its only rain. :D

Forrest
07-02-2002, 03:44 PM
I'll take my chance with about anything else besides lightning. A few years ago, I was sitting in a bar in Hudson, FL, overlooking the Gulf when a lighting storm came up quickly. A number of boats were running in when one of them, about a 20' cuddy cabin not even 300 feet in in front of where I was sitting, got struck. The lightning hit the VHF antenna which exploded sending fiberglass pieces everywhere. By some stroke of luck, no one was killed, but everyone on board was cut from the flying pieces and one girl on-board required a trip the hospital to get sewed up. These folks are about as lucky as you can get.

Remember, you have a very high probability of being hit by lightning when in an open area, especially at the leading and trailing edges of a storm.

Digger
07-02-2002, 03:54 PM
I think we could use a few posts on the lighter side today...

regards lightning, I can think of two options.

option A: stand on the deck, pelted by rain and wind, with coat hangars held high and scream into the heavens "YOU'LL NEVER SINK...THIS...BOAT!!"

or

option B: casually but smartly amble off towards the shoreline, hugging it close if possible, preferably a wooded treeline. If you have a mounted VHF antenna strike it down on deck. Don't pick a spot next to a lone tall tree or a man made tower. Drink beer, making a satisfying "aahhh" sound with each swallow. Smoke 'em if you got 'em. Say things like "I don't think the heavy stuff's comin down for some time now". Watch the other poor saps race down the lake, driven like lemmings, rain pelting their faces like needles. Hang out until the storm passes.

Formula Jr
07-02-2002, 04:07 PM
Never thought of the coat hanger thingy.
I just stand naked on the bow screaming - "Come on
you Mother%&$%@# just TRY and hit me!!" :D

maybe i'm "sharing" too much??? :D :D

2biguns
07-02-2002, 04:09 PM
I thought about standing on the bow with my putter in hand and screaming to the sky about the rain messing up my great day but Amy thought better of it :D :D :D

2biguns
07-02-2002, 04:11 PM
Perhaps I should clarify that I was referring to a golf club :rolleyes:

AVickers
07-02-2002, 04:13 PM
Hold up a One Iron and haul ass... (Nobody; not even God, can hit a One Iron!)

Gary S.
07-02-2002, 05:23 PM
I don't have a clue as to how many bad storm's I've been caught in on the western basin of Lake Erie, I do know that I have never saw a T-storm with out big winds and that means big waves, all I have done is lay all my antennas down and ride it out. In the big water your only the high point for a few seconds untill you start down the other side of the wave and I have never know or heard of anyone being struck. My biggest fear to this day is a collision with the guy that thinks he's actually going to get some where instead of playing it safe, getting wet, and riding it out.

ToonaFish
07-02-2002, 06:59 PM
Well, today, I put my foot down and ruined an eleven year old's "pull me just one more time"... I'm a camper until the thunderheads gather... but since I wasn't the captain, I had to negotiate a return to the ramp vicinity... "Hey, we can tow you there just as well"... and by the time we got to our home port, the rain was pelting us. I grew up in Florida - the one thing I don't negotiate with is lightning.

Bunches,

Celene 'four hours on the lake, but alive to show off her notan lines'

ToonaFish
07-02-2002, 07:08 PM
Perhaps I should clarify that, I wasn't standing naked on the deck shouting at anyone, holding anything. I was prepared to get tan lines.

Oh, and I saw a really cool boat today... very much the lines of a Black Widow, but no cute port hole windows. Twin engines. Will get pics next time and see if you guys know what it might be. I really like the Widows... if I ever do the Marina/no-tow thing, I think that's the direction I'd go in. But not when it's lightning.

Cuda
07-02-2002, 08:58 PM
I run from them, I don't care if it isn't the direcion I need to go. We get the worst lightining in the country here. I have gotten underneath bridges when trapped. I have also come in passes 15 miles from the one I wanted to. When you are out on open water, you can see the storms a long way off.

Last Tango
07-02-2002, 09:29 PM
My response? See photo at left.

1. Lightly beach boat
2. Swivel front seats around
3. Open cooler
4. Watch everyone ELSE get wet.

Tidbart
07-03-2002, 06:13 AM
I was talking to a guy at Lake Winni a few years ago and he told me that he got caught in a storm once. Lightning didn't hit him, it hit the water near his boat. It travelled up the outdrive, through the steering cables to the steering wheel. Which he happened to holding onto at the time. It blew him clear across the boat. He lived to tell about it.

Bob

HyperDonzi
07-03-2002, 04:43 PM
go into the nearest marina where there will be sail boat mast's. be careful not to get to close though.