Lightening Strikes on Water?

Does anyone know if your chances of being hit by lightening are increased when you’re on the water or decreased? This refers mainly to large inland bodies of fresh water where I often find myself.

I saw one once but I’m not sure if it was a strike or some sort of bolt
the water seemed to explode

I swiftly put my carbon fly rod down 🙂

I swiftly put my carbon fly rod down

Fnarr, fnarr!

I was about twenty yards from a buoy that got hit off the Kassandra peninsula in Greece a few years back. Scared the whotsits off me!

Can’t answer your question, but have been cycling through 2″ of water on a huge, sweeping bridge in lashing rain – the far end of the bridge got hit and the whole sheet of water went white and fizzed and popped! Was amazing!

If there is a storm about and you are on water then you are at risk of being hit.

IIRC there was an incident a few years ago about some surfers down in Cornwall being hit whilst out at sea when a t’storm rolled in.

If you’re in the middle of something very flat, with a very long piece of metal sticking up in the air close to you, a lightening storm can be a concern 💡

If you don’t protrude from the water you should be alright.

I thought as much. I drive a RIB with a big metal ‘A’ frame on it so today was a bit of a concern. We managed to get off the water just before the storm passed right over us.

ernie_lynch – Member
If you don’t protrude from the water you should be alright.

Aye, just submerge yourself and hold your breath until the storm has passed over.

If you have a snorkel with you then there is no need to hold your breath of course.

been hit quite a number of times on a yacht. As long as you know you are in a risk situation and turn off all the navigation and radios it’s fine. It comes straight down the mast and out the keel. You get quite a buzzing feeling though..

I thought as much. I drive a RIB with a big metal ‘A’ frame on it so today was a bit of a concern. We managed to get off the water just before the storm passed right over us

wouldn’t a rib insulate you though?

I doubt a Rib will insulate you, and I’d rather be hit on a yacht than a rib. Assuming there is no major stuctural/fire damage to the yacht then you should be able to sail home, and simple diesel engines or small outboards have such little/simple electronics that you can probably motor home just moaning about the expensive damage to your navigation toys.

On a RIB (I’m assuming it is outboard powered). The engines are increasingly complicated and ECU’s are likely to be fried by a strike on the a-frame. More worryingly most RIBs carry rather a large amount of petrol, which could make a bit of a bang! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a RIB a-frame which was properly “grounded” to sea either (unlike some/all? yacht masts). Might be worth asking over on http://www.rib.net (the stw of the rib world) – as presumably some of the offshore / north sea guys must at least have risk assessed it and decided if there was anything you could do.

try to avoid getting hit as the lighting is required to charge the electric eels

I wonder what a darkening strike looks like, then.