I was paddling in an estuary today, and it suddenly and unexpectedly started thundering with lightning. I made it back to the dock exhausted, but safe, but it made me want to be a little better prepared for next time. If you’re in that spot, what is the best thing to do?
leah
Hide under a bridge. Hope the bridge doesn’t get hit.
Paddle early in the morning and be off the water by 1pm. Normal summer pattern here, Florida, is for afternoon, mostly 3-5 , storms.
Been caught like that a few different times where there was no where to hide from it and just figured it was up to the Man up stairs if it was our time or not !
Naturally I always check the weather, but every so often the ma nature decides to fool the weather man.
I remember the scariest time: We were doing the Nine Mile pond canoe trail in the Everglades National Park and were at the farthest point out in the loop and we got in the worst horrendous lightning storm you could imagine. The bolts were all around us, and the thunder was right with them. The two of us just sat there, waiting to get struck, but some one was looking out for us and it didn’t happen.
Yeah, if you’re caught on open water you just paddle and pray. I’ve been caught in canals and big creeks before and tried to calculate in my head…“how close can I get to that tree so that it will act as a lightning rod yet not be so close that I get hurt if it gets struck?”
Like @Rex, if there are taller objects around I’ll try to gauge the “safer” area to be in. I don’t know if I picked it up from a reliable source or I’ve made it up, but I figure being just inside the triangle made by a 45° angle with the top is the sweep spot. If not, at least it makes me feel better.
Out in the open, there’s nothing to be done but think about how you’ll avoid it next time if you make it out uncooked.
There are worse ways to go.
@Sparky961 this won’t make you feel better
http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/cone-of-protection-myth.html
Worse you can’t see the roots that can conduct lightning… I have always hunkered down on my PFD on my knees.
@kayamedic said:
@Sparky961 this won’t make you feel better
http://lightningsafety.com/nlsi_pls/cone-of-protection-myth.htmlWorse you can’t see the roots that can conduct lightning… I have always hunkered down on my PFD on my knees.
Damnn. You had to go and spoil my false sense of security… 
Well, better that than perpetuate the myth. At least I gave a disclaimer prior to my B.S.
Unfortunately hunkering down or taking shelter isn’t an option when caught out in the open. Suppose I’ve been lucky. But again, there are worse ways to go.
Anything between you and the ground, like a PFD, won’t do anything to protect against a direct strike or “scatter” from the main strike. What it will do is protect against some of the ground current in the area…
Or is that also a myth?
The only time I ever paddled 6 mph in my 14-foot kayak was trying to outrun a pop-up T-storm. Made it to a bridge where I sheltered, wondering if I’d die of a heart attack or a bolt of lightning.
This came up during a wilderness medicine course I took. The advice was, don’t try to outrun it. Instead, paddle as fast as possible toward the storm front. The logic being that the storm front is broad but shallow, and paddling against its direction gives you the least exposure time in it. Get through it quickly and get behind it.
Hey Kayamedic, your link implies that short things are equally likely to be struck as tall things. Doesn’t sound right at all to me.
What golfers do…
If you are caught on a golf course during a storm and are afraid of lightning, hold up a 1-iron.
Not even God can hit a 1-iron.
Lee Trevino
You would think every sailboat would be hit on the water. Even though it does happen it isn’t as common as you would think.
It isn’t the height of an object, but the charge that attracts the strike. Still if a short and tall object are near the area of the strike then I suspect the tall may take the hit, but no guarantee of that. Lightening is a sort of unintended Russian roulette with the odds in your favor. Still not something I want to chance if i can avoid it.
I have been caught several times over the years in horrendous thunderstorms as I spend a considerable time outdoors. Once in CO my friends wanted to camp in a mountain gap. I looked around and saw several trees that had been struck in the place they wanted to camp, and suggested we go down slope and find another flat spot. The closest i have been to being hit was while working construction. A storm popped up and we took shelter in the garage. a bolt hit the water pump about 50 yards away, and a fire ball came flying out of the water tank in the garage and flew between 4 of us sitting in chairs. Everyone felt the charge but no one was hit. It is suggested to squat on the balls of your feet when caught in outside to minimize ground contact. Hard thing to do in a kayak. I have also heard to avoid transitional zones like a tree line along the shore.
@Rex said:
Hey Kayamedic, your link implies that short things are equally likely to be struck as tall things. Doesn’t sound right at all to me.
I cited a more knowledgeable source than I… And yep I have seen a cabin under the pines( they are 120 feet tall here) struck by lightning… I was on the rescue squad and several campers were burned. They had been touching their camp bunks with those comfy metal frames.
Its still scary to arrive at the top of Mt Marcy in NY… The highest point in NY State and there is nary a tree for seven hundred feet down.
At the same time as a thunderstorm… As to the PFD well it makes me feel better…
My worst was being caught in the salt water marsh. One minute blue sky, the next literally surrounded by strikes.
Like many, I thought " Lord if you want me, you got me".
@greyheron said:
This came up during a wilderness medicine course I took. The advice was, don’t try to outrun it. Instead, paddle as fast as possible toward the storm front. The logic being that the storm front is broad but shallow, and paddling against its direction gives you the least exposure time in it. Get through it quickly and get behind it.
That tip makes me think of the advice on swimming out of rip currents: go ACROSS it (parallel to shore) instead of fighting it head-on, because that is the shortest distance of exposure to it.
We don’t get many lightning storms, but there is no way I’m going to paddle toward a storm of any type.
Above ideas if you get caught. Weather radio or equivalent service on a phone with an alert feature to try and avoid it.
@magooch said:
We don’t get many lightning storms, but there is no way I’m going to paddle toward a storm of any type.
Agree with you.
When I see a big black cloud, I am going in the opposite direction to the closest body of land in my racing mode
Lightening definitely can jump from an object that is struck to a person standing nearby. I would avoid standing or crouching in close proximity to a tree.
@Celia said:
Above ideas if you get caught. Weather radio or equivalent service on a phone with an alert feature to try and avoid it.
Worst one I was in, we were between the storm and the weather station. When it was all over for us is when we got the alert.
If more than one radio try to tune to different weather stations if possible.
When you are in places like the Everglades many times you are on your own.
Just keep your head on a swivel.