Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

[willguid]

Tried to post this on the "boating safety" page/forum, but didn't have a new thread button....I have great respect/understanding of lightning as an outdoorsman/boater. I've asked many wildlife/fisheries officers, USCG personnel and other "professionals" but still not satisfied with safe/most appropriate reaction to getting caught out on open water in a boat (of course avoid this situation at all costs!)...a professor of meterology told me "it probably would scare you, but wouldn't likely hurt you, as the electricity will run through windshield frames, etc to motor controls and out through the motor as a "ground"....so here's a professor saying things like "probably" and "likely" but couldn't specifically advise. Any experience or professional advice?

 

[KFS]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

No answer from me but excellent question. Marking my place in hopes of an answer.

 

[JoLin]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

a professor of meterology told me "it probably would scare you, but wouldn't likely hurt you, as the electricity will run through windshield frames, etc to motor controls and out through the motor as a "ground"....so here's a professor saying things like "probably" and "likely" but couldn't specifically advise.

IMO, he couldn't specifically advise because the true answers really are all 'probably' and 'likely'. If not a professor of meterology, what kind of expert are you looking for?

Lightning is dangerous stuff. It may miss you, it may hit you. Stay away from it. If you can't, stay low in the boat and say your prayers. Oh- and put down that aluminum boat hook :facepalm:

My .02

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

While certainly an important issue for all boaters, I'd think sailboats and sedan/flybridges would be especially prone. St. Elmo's Fire is also another common occurrence.

 

[BoatDrinksQ5]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

Remove antenas or anything else that has sharp vertical points - they attract lighting IRRC.

fill boat to keep it low in water! haha

try to get near taller objects (bigger boats!) islands....trees....etc.

keep left foot off the floor!

 

[Thalasso]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

First off put the antenna down. It becomes a source for lighting to hit. Second i have seen a boat that was hit by lighting and don't believe that nonsense about it traveling to ground by the way of the drives. What happens is it (lightning) will bounce around in the boat looking for ground and finds it when it punches through the hull. There are boating sites that show you how to create a lighting (ground) rod to ground to protect yourself.


EDIT:
Google this and you will get an idea.
cone of protection from lightning - faraday's cage

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

unfortunately I know people that have been to the funeral of a few fishermen struck by lightning in small aluminum boats.

the best description for the path that lightning will take is random brute-force chaos.

 

[bekosh]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

Anchor near, but not to near, the the boats the giant lightning rod built into them. They're more likely to attract the lightning. You can find them on most bodies of water. I think some people call them "sailboats".

 

[BoatDrinksQ5]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

I suppose you could make an impromptu lighting rod out of a light pole plugged in and a chain wrapped around it and stuck in the water?

I don't know if it would help much/any... but i guess i would prefer anything in the boat being higher than my melon....

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

I believe the proper procedure is to GYA off of the water pronto. Common sense says that getting near the shore would be preferable to being out in the middle of a body of water as there are likely to be more tall items around to attract the lightning.

Closest call I've ever had was on a private lake in Texas east of Dallas. Was fishing in a small tinny with nothing but an electric trolling motor. Was enjoying the nonstop action from constant 5lbs+ largemouth while watching a thunderstorm approach. Almost waited too long to come in, and had lightning and thunder on all sides while running that tinny as fast as it could to get back to the covered dock. I swear the hair on my arms was standing up (may have been from sheer panic, lol) and the torrential downpour hit as we were about 30 yds from the dock. Got under cover and stood watching the rain/lightning/thunder from all directions for 30 minutes before it let up enough to grab the fishing gear and get to the truck. Definitely not an experience I care to repeat.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

Lightening will do whatever it wants. However, lowering things that might attract it always helps.

At a recent storm at a set of buildings with no other buildings or trees within 5 miles out on a beach island, lightening first hit a 60' steel tower, no surprise. The next two strikes were to 10' poles on a pier, 50 yards away.

I read that lightening strikes most often occur about 7 miles from the storm itself (ever heard the expression "out of the blue"?) So watch a storm approach or pass, or waiting too long to outrun it, can put you in a dangerous place.

 

[UncleWillie]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

This is going to start an argument....

Lightning rods do NOT attract lightning.
Their purpose is to dissipate the charge gradually and deter a direct strike.

You will see multiple sharp lightning rods on old barns and farm houses.
Their popularity is low today as their effectiveness is not well documented.

The point concentrates the charge.
At night you may see a glowing corona (St. Elmo) dissipating into the air.
In the day you may hear a crackling/hissing sound.
Same effect can be witnessed around high voltage (300,000+) power lines in a light rain or humid condition.

For a nice big fat discharge you need something smooth and round, like the top of a swell.
Notice that the top of the laboratory lightning generators do not have points.
Van De Graff and Tesla Coils will be topped with a large Sphere (Ball) or Toroid (Donut)

Sail boats and Radio Towers get struck a lot less than you would think!

If you are caught in a thunderstorm head for cover, but don't think you a duck in a barrel!
Your odds of getting hit are about the same as diving a car down the freeway through the countryside.

Take note of all the people that are reading his and note how few (if any) have ever had their boats struck or even know someone first hand that have had their boats (or even Cars) struck.

 

[RussellL]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

A ship I was on several years ago was hit by lightning one evening. It hit one of the vhf antennas which was attached to a railing right above the my room. It probably also hit the radar mast up forward and the stack back aft too, but the antenna was exploded into little chunks. Sounded like a bomb went off against the hull. If we hadn't been hearing lightning very loudly for a while I might have been scared that one of our cargo tanks had exploded. Fortunately a ship with 1/2" steel around it is a pretty good lightning shield. I know it doesn't help folks in small boats, but lightning definitely goes for the high pointy parts of a boat. It also frequently forks and hits many places at once.

 

[willguid]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

I always keep an eye out, and nowadays, if I'm in cell-reach, watch "live weather radar" on my cell phone, but guessing how fast that cell is approaching is always the trick. I once put on a pair of rubber gloves to steer my butt back to the shore, clutching a stainless wheel (like those gloves were gonna help!). I'm in a Starcraft Chieftan cuddy cabin these days, so if I get ambushed, I just get in the cuddy, turn on the fan and wait it out....don't like it, but best I can do if I get caught. Thanks for all of the input/opinion.

 

[5150abf]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

I read a story in Infihserman a few year sago about 3 guys that got caught in a thunderstorm, lightning hit the boat, 2 of them were fine one was dead.

They determined that the one that died was touching a screw head so he took the bolt where the others were clear and okay.

If you are actually caught in a storm run for cover as fast as you can, I am not an expert by any means but it seems like sitting in one place would be the last thing you want to do.

 

[mrdancer]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

I always tell my crews to head for the nearest boat ramp opposite the storm when they hear thunder. If you can see the lightning or hear the thunder, then it is close enough to hit you. In the rare instance that they cannot get to a ramp, I tell them to find the nearest shoreline bluff that has no trees - at least they won't be the tallest thing around, and trees are notorious for attracting lightning and spreading it all around them on the ground.

For those of you really concerned about lightning, put a metal box on your boat, or make the walk-in console out of metal (including the floor). Get inside that and all the bad electrons will go around you (Faraday cage, same thing that makes your car cabin safe from lightning).

 

[Ned L]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

I've been struck by lightning, luckily not a full impact strike (not out on the water). Had a tree in our neighbor's yard get hit & completely blown apart (that strike then traveled about 50' through an old piece of pipe laying in the dirt until it found the wire for our dog's "invisible fence", it completely vaporized the copper in that wire as it made its way around our yard and into our garage where it blew the control box off the wall to the other side of the garage (my wife was standing 3' from it at the time)). I've also been out on a boat in lower N.Y. harbor when a thunder storm came through & saw West Bank light house (cir. 1900 steel light) take a direct hit. That was pretty neat; the whole light house 'glowed' in an aura for a second.
I've read, and it actually makes sense that if you are on a sailboat the best thing to do is to wrap yourself around the aluminum mast (I'm not sure I could actually do that though). This way you cannot become an actual conductor for the lightening (which is what will hurt you). You will become charged, but will not be the conductor (the lightening won’t be going into you in one place and out in another. (The same idea as being able to do wiring while the circuit is live, you can touch one wire at a time, just don’t touch both at the same time.) In a small open boat I’d say just lay as low as possible without touching anything.

 

[Texasmark]

Re: Lightning/Thunderstorm Safety?

This is going to start an argument....

Lightning rods do NOT attract lightning.
Their purpose is to dissipate the charge gradually and deter a direct strike.

You will see multiple sharp lightning rods on old barns and farm houses.
Their popularity is low today as their effectiveness is not well documented.

The point concentrates the charge.
At night you may see a glowing corona (St. Elmo) dissipating into the air.
In the day you may hear a crackling/hissing sound.
Same effect can be witnessed around high voltage (300,000+) power lines in a light rain or humid condition.

For a nice big fat discharge you need something smooth and round, like the top of a swell.
Notice that the top of the laboratory lightning generators do not have points.
Van De Graff and Tesla Coils will be topped with a large Sphere (Ball) or Toroid (Donut)

Sail boats and Radio Towers get struck a lot less than you would think!

If you are caught in a thunderstorm head for cover, but don't think you a duck in a barrel!
Your odds of getting hit are about the same as diving a car down the freeway through the countryside.

Take note of all the people that are reading his and note how few (if any) have ever had their boats struck or even know someone first hand that have had their boats (or even Cars) struck.

I totally agree and made a career out of high voltage and arcing and jumping and sparking and all.

One thing I did notice fishing the inland bays off the Gulf of Mexico years ago and that is the summer time squalls that come up in the afternoons there. Around mid day you could see the Cumulus Clouds develop their tops up to what looked like 30k ft, then they would blacken and the bottom would get flat and and the whole thing ugly looking. Then the lighting would start and a lot of times, as said on this thread, it would preceed the rain. Then the torrential rain would come and in a matter of minutes, the atmosphere is satisfied, everything stops, the clouds disappear, and you are left with a steam bath, literally.

I have felt a tingle on two occasions in FG boats out in open water where the lightening strike was several miles away when I had my engine in the water and hand on the controls. Apparently the water doesn't absorb the charge as the earth does, but deflects it, omnidirectional I guess. It apparently travels across the water's surface and that's how I felt the sensation.

As others have said, if you know these events occur, like there every afternoon in the summer, when you see it starting to form, seek shelter and wait it out. You won't have to wait maybe 30 minutes from forming to completion.

My grand dad and I used to fish around Corpus Christi, TX. and he had an early '50's vintage 10 hp Johnson on a planked 16ft skiff. Obviously not very fast. We got overrun several times trying to get to cover and got sopping wet before we did....but it felt good. Later on when I was older and had my own rig I could and did. Sometimes shelter is as simple as a sandbar/small island between you and the strikes. You might get wet in an open boat but at least you don't have to worry about the strike.

Mark