Thunder, Lightning, rods and reels and metal boats! Yikes!

[Jennie@ifish]

What do you do, if you are caught in a lightning storm?
Anyone have any good advice?
Get the heck to land? What if you can't?
Are you in more danger in an aluminum craft with lightning rod rods?
:smile:
Or am I all off?
What do they say to do?
Jen

[Thumper]

Git yor little butt off the boat, put the rod down, and hunker down in a ditch. Let Kilchis run around and attract the lightning. That is what mongrel dogs are good for.

[Trolleytrout2]

I read in Boatu.s. that it would help to have a set of jumper cables handy. Connect one end to a solid metal object like a railing and drop the other end in the water. With fiberglass they suggest connecting the stainless railing to the outdrive with heavy copper wire. If you're lucky the strike will follow the wire to the water.

[Jennie@ifish]

Mongrel, my rear end!
My dog is better than yourrrrrrr doggggggggggggg
J

[AngleThis]

Take in the rods, lower the antenas, turn off the electronics, and keep your head low...U don't want the top of your head to be the highest point off the water lest you hear the sound of rice crispies...permanently. If yer in a metal boat, try to stay on the wooden floorboards, sit on a PFD, whatever best insulates you from the metal.

From what I have been told it is better to keep low and still than to race across the water in the middle of a thunderstorm as this only increases the chances you will come across an area with sufficient charge to arc.

If a man with a turbin instead suggests motoring to a highly populated area and removing your VHF antenna and placing the end of it in your fuel spout, duct tape it to his head and set him adrift in a leaky life boat. Don't forget the generous pre-launch fuel spill.. :grin:

[ 05-20-2002, 07:01 PM: Message edited by: ********* ]

[crabbait]

I was fishing with my brother on Crane Prairie first part of June one year in my open DB. We were drowning dragonfly nymphs under a bobber looking for those trout that break off 10lb line when you try to keep them out of the trees.

It was a cloudy day and you could not tell the cumulous clouds from the stratus. Our bobbers were floating, graphite rods leaning against the side of the Alumaweld, and we were BSing when we both noticed a hum. We stopped talking to try to figure out where the hum was coming from, louder now.

As we looked around the boat, I noticed the smell of ozone in the air. Just then, I noticed his line..........."look at your line, Randy". Instead of laying on the water, it went up in a high arc from the tip of his rod all the way to his bobber without touching the water! As he reached for the rod I heard a loud pop and saw the flash of static leap from the rod to his hand which was still a foot away. The jolt set him back but the humming stopped and the line slowly floated down to the water.

We quickly picked up our gear and got to shore just as the real light show started. Too close.

[ 05-20-2002, 11:04 PM: Message edited by: crabbait ]

[Paddlefish]

And now I like my wooden canoes even better than ever!

(Actually I was looking for a better spot to motor my house this afternoon for a few minutes.) :shocked:

[BottomFeeder]

Jennie,

The main thing of course is to get off the water ASAP. This is because a boat is an easy mark in open water, as would be a lone tree on a hillside, etc. You would definately be a more "interesting" target in a craft with lighting rods or antennas (Corona discharge or St. Elmos' fire). However, a metal hulled boat is a lot safer than a boat made out of non-conductive material, like fiberglass. The reason is that if an aluminum surface got struck by a bolt of lightning, the charge would tend to flow on the very outside portion of the metal shell. Very much the same reason that a car is excellent shelter from lighting storms, it is extremely difficult for a lighting bolt to "see" the relatively non-conductive passengers inside. Woe be to those in Fiberglass or wooden boats as they would appear to be much more conductive than the hull. If you can't get off the water, stay as low as you can and avoid contacting the metal hull if possible.

Lighting is fairly bizzare force of nature though and electrocution can be caused by the changing magnetic fields it puts off. Secondary currents induced by these fields can be quite strong. Two summers ago I received a healthy electric shock from a cloud to cloud discharge in the middle of Beaverton inside an apartment building of all things. My left arm felt funny for weeks afterwards. The strange thing is that I've huddled in terror through a series of monster electric storms on the Snake River or in the mountains of Eastern Oregon and never felt a thing. Crazy I tell you. I do know that without it no life would exist on the planet (sorry, not even fish) so enjoy it, it is a source :smile: but be careful. You can usually hear a storm coming on an AM radio quite a while before it actually arrives.

TPM

[Mofish]

Don't worry about the boat!!! Worry about your computers.

I got hit yesterday in my RV Park in Salem and fryed two dell computers and my power source.

It smoked my plugs and also got my alarm.

The worst part of it all was the computers and server was only 3 months old.

The plus side is that 15mins before the strike I had just done a full system back to zips.

And was on the phone to Dell at 4:45pm and they shipped me an all new system out last night and will be up and going by Noon today. Thanks Dell

Mofish graemlins/program.gif

[ampersat]

hey mofish,
you got lucky. i used to do customer support for dell back in the early 90's. lightning damage was not covered by factory warranty back then. perhaps you need a big surge suppressor or even a UPS to cover all that hardware in your RV.

[Mofish]

Dell did not cover under warrenty but they did give me a super deal on the hard wear.

I am up and going :grin: . Fed-X delivered at 7:00am and we had it up and going at 8:30am. Was able to reload from back-ups I made and that was great.

The Dell people I worked with did a great job. I have over 15 dell computers in my company and it pays to send a little more for service. They took care of me.

I did have a ups system but I guess it was not hooked up correctly. It is know :grin: .

Time to get ready and go fishin.

Mofish

[HORNBLOWER]

A few years ago I was fly-fishing with a friend on a mountain stream in Colorado when a thunder/ lightning storm began to move through the mountains. Talk about an antena! We began to feel a strong electric current pulsing through those graphite rods. We reeled in and retreated back to our SUV, dragging those $$$ rod-tips on the ground behind us. The next hour was spend sitting out the storm inside the SUV.

[FEAR NO FISH!]

I was anchored up at the shad rack, a couple of years back, spinner fishing for fall Nooks. I was hunkered down in my mustang worksuit, watching a storm come up the Columbia. I watched the lighting start striking trees on both sides of the river. At that moment, I wished I was anywhere but there. I crawled onto the floor since I thought that was the safest place. I figured the rubber mats would provide the insulation that would save me. It is at those moments when you appreciate how good life is. LOUD? I have never heard thunder that loud or seen lighting that bright. God still makes the best special effects!

[Slow Roll]

Here's my tale of electric fun.
While up in Saskatchewan trolling for Lake Trout, my Dad and I were watching a big thunder bumper roll across the north end of the lake, about 6 miles away. We could see the lightning falling on the shore with good clarity.
As the boat turned I leaned over to grab my pop and about 4 inches from the can a small spark jumped from my fingers to the side of the boat (aluminum Hewes Craft). I thought that was cool and showed my dad. Then it sunk in as to what that meant.
I was using lead core line on a graphite rod. There were six colors out (about 120 ft.) and that made a real nice conductor/collector. I started reeling and my dad started the big motor and we hightailed it for the nearest island. My dad couldn't even get close to me without getting a good shock.
I ain't kidding, during that run I got too close to the hull while still reeling and had about a 10 inch arc pop on me. That hurt like all get out. Just like perchmaster my arm tingled for several days afterwards.
Still gives me the willies sometimes when I am fishing and a big storm brews up.

Not my idea of a good time.

Paul B.

[Jennie@ifish]

These are extremely facinating stories for me.
Tell more! Tell more!
Jen

[Hogmaster]

OK, Jenn. You asked what to do. If I ever get caught exposed like that again I am going to make sure I follow the advice of Lee Trevino (who has been hit twice!)

He was asked at a press conference what he would do if he got caught out in the elements again.

His response? "Well, I'd get my 1 iron out and hold it in the air"

"Why on earth would you do that?" asked the reporter.

"Because not even God can hit a 1 iron!" was Lee's reply!

:grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Hogmaster]

OK here's my shocking tale...

About 12 years ago I owned a small 12' aluminum Sea King. Took the wife and both (young) kids out on Lake Billy Chinook one afternoon. We launched at the National Forest Service campground and motored a ways out before starting to troll for Kokes.

We had trolled for quite some time toward the dam when I noticed the cloud buildup. The way the terrain was had hidden the clouds until they were literally almost on top of us. It had been a mostly clear beautiful and calm mid 80s day prior to then.

Realizing that this was not a good situation, we reeled up and turned the Sea King back toward the campground. Unfortunately, with only a 6 horse there was no quick escape.

Then, just as the wind suddenly freshened and the waves started coming up the motor conked out! Upon investigation I found that a huge ball of discarded line had wrapped around the prop. I had to lean way out over the back, taking waves in the face while trying to cut away line. The wife and kids were hanging on (yes, wearing PFDs although this was before they were required) as the boat bobbed mercilessly.

All the sudden the tingling on my arms started. The feeling was very disconcerting and scary. I knew that there was going to be a lot of lightning - The thunder was audible all over the area. What to do?!!

Well, it is tough to get low and stay off the metal in a 12' Sea king. The floor is metal. The benches were the only thing not, but that meant we were the high point. The life preservers had the metal attachment straps which worried me too.

So, figuring it was better to sacrifice me than my family I sat upright after I finished cutting away the line, got the motor started and made a run back to the launch. It started raining so hard that the drops actually hurt! Felt more like hail than rain. All the sudden WHAM! Lightning hit. But it hit a tree that was right off our port and on the shore - the shore I was considering landing at but had decided not to because the waves were breaking (2-3 footers) with such force that it looked dangerous in its own right.

We finally got back to the campground, shaken and stirred and wet as sponges, but otherwise unharmed.

The experience was one of growth for me - Absolute naivety about how weather can change your chances, and so quickly, almost got my family and me in some very serious trouble.

I got a new (larger) boat very soon after that. The Sea King was a fishin' machine, but was suited for the Burlington launch or Trask tidewater, not big water...

[crabbait]

While archery elk hunting: I got up before dawn and noticed a large thunderstorm on the next ridge. We were camped very near the top of a ridge with a few trees and large open areas. As I started making coffee I realized that the storm was headed our way.

My buddy was sleeping-in since he had scored the day before. I went to his tent and woke him up, explaining the situation. He did not take the storm seriously and elected to stay in his aluminum poled tent, snug in his bag.

I retreated to my Suburban. When I looked up from tuning the radio, I was blinded by lightning striking in camp. In as instant I heard the passenger door open and there was my buddy in his skivies. He explained that he had suddenly changed his mind (expletives deleted).

As my vision cleared, I could see a large tree across camp competely engulfed in flame. It had rained the day before and I was not too concerned. My buddy was ready to leave all our gear and make a run for it before the whole clearing was ablaze. I was pretty sure that the fire would die after the dry lichen and moss burned from the inner part of the tree.

Sure enough, the fire went out. When we looked at the tree later that day we found a 12" section of tree from the top to the bottom was missing. There were pieces of bark and wood blown 40-50' from the tree.

Ain't nature cool! :shocked: :wink: :smile:

[ 05-21-2002, 12:11 PM: Message edited by: crabbait ]

[Hogmaster]

What, no more juicy lightning stories today?!! Or better advice than Trevino's? Surely somebody can cite another thunderbumper experience!

[Mofish]

I could tell you about the thunder and lighting on my Honey MOON.

Lets just say :cheers: graemlins/hearton.gif Happened.

YaHaaaaaa

[BottomFeeder]

I once tangled with a Hell's Canyon Resevoir storm on the Snake River that was. Myself and another friend had boated into a boat in only area to camp on the Oregon side two years ago for a week to catch catfish. We had a storm come up on one of those days that was fantastic! We watched it come from what had to be 50-60 miles away as the tops of clouds way off in the distance, way before we could even hear the thunder. As it got closer we kind of realized at the same time that there was nowhere to go except the tent. And it was being held up by metal poles sunk into the ground. The truck was a good half hour away by boat and being on the water was not a good idea so we stuck it out. Neither of us felt any discharge but we witnessed amazing bolts of purplish blue lighting across the canyon wall on the Idaho side directly across from us, time after time. Then the wind started to blow the tent over so we went inside to save it. For a good twenty minutes I had my back up against the south side of the tent holding it up. My feet were skidding across the floor at one point. It felt like a giant was outside trying to push in the tent. After it passed we went outside to survey the damage. Most of our dinnerware was full of water, the chairs were knocked over, the boat was still there (thank god) one of the poles was in the water, out of its pole holder. Turns out we had a good 7-8lbs channel cat take a piece of perch at some point during the show!

TPM