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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/26/2009 : 16:32:10

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgz0MMpNOs

we were safe , but it just missed us it was moveing to the right ..

Edited by - on

John Russell
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3444 Posts

Response Posted - 07/26/2009 : 17:07:51

It's good that you were safe but when it comes to lightning, I've always believed that if you're close enough to see it, you're close enough to get hit by it .

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 07/27/2009 : 13:26:16

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEuZvY9DpnI& feature=channel

the next day we saw the vibes concert in Bridgeport it was still rough out so we anchored in the channel , it was live on the radio

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DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2009 : 09:27:46

Sean,
In my opinion you probably weren't safe, hard to say from the short video but from the way it was raining and the lightning (which can travel an EASY 5mi from a storm) it looks like there was a medium chance it could have gotten you.

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2009 : 12:55:28

yea.. if you travel away from home theres always a chance something can happen ..made it through another weekend :D

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DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2009 : 13:58:48

Agreed, take reasonable caution but LIVE LIFE!!!

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2009 : 15:53:23

thanks dave .. "live it up today ..you can live it down tomorrow"

theres alot of stress management in sailing ...lol

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5908 Posts

Response Posted - 07/28/2009 : 16:22:52

I just did a quick search for statistics on fatal lightning strikes, and it appears that roughly 40-50 fatal strikes happen each year in the US. Of those, most by far happen on a golf course, or under a tree, or on an athletic field, or elsewhere on land. A very small number happen on boats. There doesn't appear to be any reason to believe that the risk of a fatal strike is any greater on a boat than on land.

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SEAN
Admiral

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USA
772 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2009 : 06:52:49

we were in a storm one time ..and it sounded like there was electric static noises in the air ..that was scary.. we shut down all the electric on the boat ..im not really shure how to best protect yourself ..but were still learning as we go ..

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PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2009 : 11:42:04

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by SEAN
 we were in a storm one time ..and it sounded like there was electric static noises in the air ..that was scary.. we shut down all the electric on the boat ..im not really shure how to best protect yourself ..but were still learning as we go ..
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

last weekend I was with my friend on his Hobie 16, we had gone across the lake to Red Barn cove and were chilling, having a beer and swimming when a big storm blew in. We were able to un-beach the Hobie and run real fast on a broad reach back to our side of the lake before the storm actually hit. The lightening was approaching with a bunch of cloud to ground strikes. It was getting pretty scary. We decided to pull his Hobie into the empty slip next to Stephanos and we made it under shelter just in time. Pretty exciting and I loved every minute of it.

A few weeks ago a buddy and me took his C-27 out at night, there were lightening strikes just south of the end of the lake. It was eerily beautiful.

I understand about being safe and being here in Texas I do have a healthy respect for the weather but at the same time you only live once. What would one do if caught at sea with no chance to make it to land in a storm? How often do those sailboats get struck by lightening?

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jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2009 : 18:51:54

That's sorta always been my confusion - CW would indicate that a tall metal stick, straight into the air...taller than anything around... should get regular strikes - yet in fact it is a very rare occurrence...and that's what I go with when the t-storms come through and we are on-board...

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Derek Crawford
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3323 Posts

Response Posted - 07/29/2009 : 18:56:06

We have an unwritten rule on Canyon Lake that if you see lightning you get off the lake.

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Steve Milby
Past Commodore

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USA
5908 Posts

Response Posted - 07/30/2009 : 07:42:37

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Derek Crawford
 We have an unwritten rule on Canyon Lake that if you see lightning you get off the lake.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">We had the same rule when I sailed on little Brookville Lake in Indiana, but the rule doesn't work when you're in bigger waters, like on a big bay or a Great Lake, or in coastal waters. If you're at anchor in an isolated cove, or sailing 15 miles from your marina, you won't always be able to get to shelter and off the boat before the storm hits. That's when you realize that you're probably going to be on the boat throughout the storm, until the wind and lightning subside, and there's nothing you can do to avoid it. The boat could take a strike, regardless of whether it is grounded or not, and the path that lightning takes to the ground isn't always predictable. That's when you have to stay away from the mast and rigging as much as possible, and trust that the odds will prevail, which are in favor of you not being struck.

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PCP777
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1225 Posts

Response Posted - 07/30/2009 : 12:42:47

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DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 07/30/2009 : 14:09:17

And another odd fact. Although it's pretty rare to hear of a boat getting struck the beach is a very dangerous place to be during a thunderstorm. Maybe the friction caused by the waves breaking on the sand causes an attraction? I don't know but around here when there's lightning the lifeguards call everyone off the beach.

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jerlim
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1484 Posts

Response Posted - 07/30/2009 : 18:29:53

WARNING - golf joke (sorry)...
Q - What should you do when caught on the golf course in a thunder storm?
A - Hold a #1 iron over your head...'cause even God can't hit a 1 iron...

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 07/30/2009 : 19:32:40

Only Jack!

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