What to do in a Lightning Storm on a Boat

[FSH 210 Sport]

Thought this might be useful..

What to Do in a Lightning Storm on a Boat | Boating Mag

Check out these 29 strategies for surviving lighting strikes when boating.

www.boatingmag.com

 

[zipper]

Our Beneteau took a lightning strike in her slip last Summer, the tallest mast in the area. There is a ground cable to the keel, but it still fried out Raymarine ev-100 auto pilot compass. We had to remove the equipment and send to Raymarine in N.H. for repair. We were not on the boat at the time, but we were told of the strike from the marina manager.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Glad you were not onboard at the time! Thanks for the story!

There are A LOT of thunderstorms here during the summer, and this year there is more and a lot of rain, all the local lakes are full, and the closest lake is letting out a lot a ton of water just to keep it at full pool and leave room for flood control. I’ve been caught out several times, one time with some good sized hail, I‘m thinking of possibly making up a deployable set up to go from the T top rocket launchers (highest point) to a ground plate I can put in the water… two summers ago there was so much static in the air during one storm that the fishing rods in the rocket launchers were getting charged and were “popping“ to the rocket launchers.

 

[fatboyroy]

When I first got my Yammy, I boated a lot, every afternoon a thunderstorm will pass by that last about 30-45min. I usually end my day before it hits but every time the storm stops and im at my house I feel like going back to launch boat again but gets lazy. One day I just stayed and let storm pass, I am at the bay 4-5ft of water so I should be ok. WOW, It was one of the most scariest boating experience I ever had. Lightning left and right, blackout conditions I can barely see bow of the boat, anchor wouldn't hold. I slowly inch my way back to the dock (3miles), blowing horn every 20 seconds or so. I will never do it again LOL.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

When I first got my Yammy, I boated a lot, every afternoon a thunderstorm will pass by that last about 30-45min. I usually end my day before it hits but every time the storm stops and im at my house I feel like going back to launch boat again but gets lazy. One day I just stayed and let storm pass, I am at the bay 4-5ft of water so I should be ok. WOW, It was one of the most scariest boating experience I ever had. Lightning left and right, blackout conditions I can barely see bow of the boat, anchor wouldn't hold. I slowly inch my way back to the dock (3miles), blowing horn every 20 seconds or so. I will never do it again LOL.

Ex per ience; Noun
Definition; Is what you get when you don’t get what you want

 

[adrianp89]

When I first got my Yammy, I boated a lot, every afternoon a thunderstorm will pass by that last about 30-45min. I usually end my day before it hits but every time the storm stops and im at my house I feel like going back to launch boat again but gets lazy. One day I just stayed and let storm pass, I am at the bay 4-5ft of water so I should be ok. WOW, It was one of the most scariest boating experience I ever had. Lightning left and right, blackout conditions I can barely see bow of the boat, anchor wouldn't hold. I slowly inch my way back to the dock (3miles), blowing horn every 20 seconds or so. I will never do it again LOL.

Ditto…. It’s for the faint of heart. But sometimes riding it out is the safest bet. Scary as shit but being in a few feet of water is better than trying to make it home in six foot swells.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Agreed!

The first time I got caught out I was waiting in line so to speak to pull my boat out when I saw the storm come barreling over the mountain and pounced on the boat ramp with a couple people in the process of pulling their boats out-read caught with their pants down. I spun around and dropped the hammer towards a small cove across the lake, I now call it hidy cove, about a mile away. I was about a1/4 mile from the cove when the winds that were gusting to about 70 mph and torrential rain caught up with me. I shot into the cove and had to use a bit of reverse thrust to slow down as I got behind the hook of the cove. I sat there watching the waves build rapidly…if you can imagine a wave that had another wave building on top of it and another building on top of the second from the wind. The lightning and Thunder became almost constant and some strikes were very close… then the hail started, pea size at first and getting up to a bit bigger than quarter size. I was at the helm keeping station with the throttles directly under my Tea Bag filled with standard PFD’s. Two weeks before there was a hail storm there that produced tangerine sized hail stones, so my plan was to just beach it if the hail got too big and hide in the head compartment. This was the day I learned a valuable lesson about keeping rain gear onboard at all times. It was 95° before the storm and dropped to around 55° in just a few minutes, I was wearing lightweight summer clothes and was soaked, cold and shivering. It was about a hour before things subsided enough so I could go back to the ramp. By the time I got my boat on the trailer I had to use a flash light to check the boat was in the trailer correctly and ready for travel. I was shivering during the 10 min drive back to my house, and while I parked the trailer and covered the boat. I used all the hot water taking a shower and went to bed with sweats on.

EXPERIENCE

Now I carry not only rain gear but some extra layers of clothes, a small stove and some freeze dried meals.