Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Is there anymore harm in sitting on the boat at the dock than anywhere else? I notice only a few die hards staying on their boats all weekend even during the thunderstorms. Somone told me fiberglass hulls are more conductive. I can;t see how.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

it's more about being the highest point on the water.

Myself I don't factually know what the safest place is.

However I've been out on islands during thunderstorms, I have always just sat on the beach, with trees 300-500ft behind me. I assume that's the best place to be (out of the water, a bit away from higher things)

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

i stayed on my boat during a thunder storm last night. might even say it was an electrical storm. lots of lightening (and rain too of course, again, ).

guess i figure it this way. i had my boat with full cover deployed. so i was kinda just a bump on the land scape. not a lightening rod. i put my fm antenna, my vhf antenna, and stern nav. light down so i didn't have any lightening rods on my boat. at the dock i was at. there are several trees right near the dock. so figure those are natural lightening rods so hopefully i won't get hit.
this morning we got up and the all night fishing club was giving out prizes. they had been out all night. on the water. through the thunder storm/ electrical storm.

maybe someone here will change my mind by the end of this thread. but as for now. i felt safe enough on my boat. i could have gone up to sit in the van which was close by. but really didn't feel the need.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

If you're the highest point, you're the target.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

foodfisher said:

If you're the highest point, you're the target.

Click to expand...

No expert here but I don't think that is correct. I had a tree in my back yard that just got blow to splinters last week and there were at least 20 other trees much taller within a 40 foot circle. The one that took the hit was 20 feet shorter than a lot of the others.

Look at it this way also. Ocean going ships and Navy ships must get hit all the time and we don't hear of many sailors being fried. I got caught out on Lake Ontario when a storm rolled in and right over me in an aluminum 20 footer. Never did get hit but I sure did get brown shorted.:redface:

Gary

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

I was out in a lightning storm 18' sylvan pro fisherman alluminum hull with wet carpet, every time I raised my fishing rod I would heard this clicking sound like a geiger counter, then I saw my line raising straight up between each eye, I felt my long hair standing straight up like Don King's, my brother and I at the same time realized I was about to be struck by lightning and hightailed to the nearest shore, I was on the deck with my head down the whole time, I later realized my old fishing rod was the graphite variety and I think thats why I was the only one effected, but yea don't sit out there in lightning especially with a graphite rod.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Like you, I don't know for sure, BUT, I want you standing next to me when I'm hunkerd down.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Caddyshack was the best teacher for me on that. I leave my golf clubs at home when I go out on the water for just this reason. In truth, I head for land and tend to look for a low ditch until the "20 mississippi's of time from flash to report. Just watch out for other creatures before hopping into that choice spot!

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

From the National Safety Database - Boat Lightning Protection

Bottom line is that if you're on a big, all-metal ship you don't have anything to worry about. If you're on a typical fiberglass pleasure boat and it takes a lightning strike, it's gonna go through you ......

"One minute the fisherman was sitting atop his elevated seat aboard his boat. The next minute he was dead--the victim of a lightning bolt."

This was the lead paragraph in a recent Florida newspaper article. These accidents can and do happen--and yet they need not.

There is no such thing as lightning-proof boats, only lightning-protected boats. All-metal ships are rarely damaged, and injuries or deaths are uncommon. These ships are frequently struck, but the high conductivity of the large quantities of metal, with hundreds of square yards of hull in direct contact with the water, causes rapid dissipation of the electrical charge.

But small boats are seldom made of metal. Their wood and fiberglass construction do not provide the automatic grounding protection offered by metal-hulled craft. Therefore, when lightning strikes a small boat, the electrical current is searching any route to ground and the human body is an excellent conductor of electricity!

Today's fiberglass-constructed small boats, especially sailboats, are particularly vulnerable to lightning strikes since any projection above the flat surface of the water acts as a potential lightning rod. In many cases, the small boat operator or casual weekend sailor is not aware of this vulnerability to the hazards of lightning.

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The actual link below has lots of information on boat lightning strikes and what you should do - I especially like the one that says "It would be desirable to have individuals aboard who are competent in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid."

http://nasdonline.org/document/209/d000007/boating-lightning-protection.html

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

45Auto said:

From the National Safety Database - Boat Lightning Protection

Bottom line is that if you're on a big, all-metal ship you don't have anything to worry about. If you're on a typical fiberglass pleasure boat and it takes a lightning strike, it's gonna go through you ......



http://nasdonline.org/document/209/d000007/boating-lightning-protection.html

Click to expand...

Great link- thanks. Some good, practical advice about

1. Getting the hell off the water, and
2. What to do when you do get stuck out there.

Good read.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Personally I have traveled through many storms, lived on my boat for over 10 years, and have expierenced seeing 1 lightning strike on a boat docked next to me. Hit the VHF antenna and blew a small hole in the fiberglass at the base. My boat had outriggers which were taller. The same can happen on land. My neighbors home was destroyed by a lightning strike recently.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Keep in mind that large boats (NAvy Ships, Tankers, cruise ships, etc) have lightening protection systems. It is essentially a series of lightening rods which ground down to the water. small boats don't typically have this.

If you're in a marina, chances are the masts of sailboats around you till take a hit before you will, but this isn't guranteed. I've seen a number of very, very active thunder and lightening storms, a few with lightening strikes avery few seconds. I noticed that all the boats hit were sailboats. I also noticed that the boats out on moorings were hit significantly more frequently than boats at the docks (about 90%). I wonder if this is because the boats on moorings are much further from shore and much more spaced out.

What what described by a70eliminator is a variation of "St. Elmo's Fire" and is a certain indicator that a strike is about to occur. laying down any such objects on the deck or in teh cabin is smartest thing you can do. St. Elmo's fire doesn't always have to glow, but it will 'buzz' or 'click' as described. If that is the case then that is a sure sign to get off the water.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

I remember reading about this boat was struck by lightning last year. My mind is made up. Thanks, Steven

http://www.segnette.com/boating/2009/boat_struck_by_lightning.htm

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Wish we had lightning storms here in Socal, I miss them

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

I saw pictures of an individual that was fishing on a boat when lightning struck.

The lightning came down the fishing rod, and came out thru his zipper,and the metal eyelets of his shoes. There were very destinctive burn marks were the lightning entered and left his body.

The boat was a small fishing boat, i do not know if it was aluminum or fiberglass, but I do know he was on a freshwater lake.

I would rather not be out on the water during lightning, and if I am, I will sit low in the boat and not hold onto metal railings, bimini poles etc.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

We were out a few years ago, sitting in a dead calm ocean, like glass. Out of no where I noticed some of the girls, their hairs on the back of their neck were standing STRAIGHT UP!!

I pointed it out and as we looked around, it was ALL of the girls that had this going on.

Youve never seen 5 boats rafted up deraft and leave the area so quickly!!

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

I rode out a storm a few years ago under a bridge. I don't know how safe that is, but I had to do something. The supports were concrete and U shaped, so I parked between one and hunkered down. Actually stayed dry too.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

I've been caught out in storms on lakes a couple times.. When in the boat I pulled into a really narrow cove with lots of trees at the shoreline and just got as close to shore as possible, hoping that the lightning would prefer a big tree over the boat.

I got caught on lake of the ozarks once on my old Kawasaki 1100zxi jetski when a storm popped up, I was MILES from the lakehouse so at first I decided to haul a55 toward the lake house and ran wide open down the lake (60+mph) until it started to hail, then I pulled into a cove and jumped into the water & held the life jacket over my head so I didn't get pummeled by the golfball sized hail.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Since so many boaters with cabins spend most of their time just docked at their marinas why would anyone just sit on their boat when approached by a lightning storm???

If you drove to your boat and your at your home port why not just walk back to your car and sit it out insulated by the 4 rubber tires. The biggest danger would be a falling branch or tree so drive to an open field until it passes. They usually only last a few minutes.
Or go into the marinas enclosure.

But the best solution is to learn to read the weather and the clouds. Listen to the forecast and pull up the radar on a computer before you go to the dock. I wait until it passes before putting the boat in the water.

If the storms are scattered I stay within a few miles of the ramp, so I can get back into my car to wait it out.

A simple portable AM radio can warn you miles off, by hearing the static.

I used to bring my 3 lb netbook to check the radar during the day. I connected thru a Verizon card that connects to the Internet over their satellites, but that was a $59 a month subscription).
Now I view the same free radar site on my Blackberry for a $29 unlimited data subscription plan, which I'm paying for anyway.


Severe storm areas will be surrounded by a colored square on the screen.
You can click on the radar map and zoom right into your area or zoom out to see whats coming towards you.

Since most weather moves from West to East you can scroll over to the left and see oncoming cells hours away.

When I'm on big lakes, it's easy enough to cruise away from the oncoming threats. But if it's spread out I get back to the ramp and sit it out in my car ASAP.

Last season we had a memorable lightning storm that I saw approching us and we made it back to our launch site just in time. As we stood under the marinas enclosure we watched people sitting there still fishing and saw one boat pulling skiers right into the storm.

This was the loudest scariest thunder and lighting storm I've ever seen. All hell broke loose for 45 minutes. Finally it cleared up and we went back out.

Check out a free site like this one for your area on a computer before you leave for the docks:

http://www.wunderground.com/radar/r...42.64765167&lon=-73.75354767&label=Albany, NY

Listen to the forecast and turn on the weather alerts on a fixed or handheld VHS when you are on the boat.

Best prevention is learning to read the clouds and using the latest technology
to keep you off the lakes or ocean before the lighting hits.

Re: Sitting on boat during thunderstorm?

Growing up we had a 34' fiberglass sailboat that was grounded from a lightning rod on the mast to a large copper plate below the water line. I don't recall ever being hit but it was nice to know we had some protection when stuck sailing through the storms we couldn't avoid.