To the two guys who were out Windsurfing on Botany Bay yesterday (08/11/10) around 4:45pm when there was visible lightening only 2 km away. PLEASE don't do it again. We don't want to hear of anybody fried on The Bay.
Windsurfing, kiteboarding or sailing in a thunderstorm is extremely dangerous.
Met a guy many years ago who was windsurfing on a small lake north of Ulladulla near my wife's family's holiday house, he owned the now defunct local surf shop. He reckons the lightning was a few klms away, no rain or wind squall usually in front of a storm to scare him away and he felt OK so kept on sailing. He reckons it was overcast but not stormy looking. Minutes later he said the entire lake just lit up with an accompanying loud "crack" and he was thrown from the board. A tree on the shore about 50mtres away was split by a bolt of lightning and one of the lightning's forks arced to his mast tip, down to his boom, between his hands and across to his chest throwing him off the board.
He showed me his boom and wetsuit to prove it, there was clear burnt black spots the size of a pea made by the arc. He reckons he was lucky not have have lost conciousness otherwise he would have drowned. I went down the lake and saw the tree too, around 30 foot tall, it looked like a giant with a huge block splitter hit it right down the middle creating two splintery halves. No burn marks which surprised me but showed the power of lightning when it reaches the ground.
Same year my brother and his mate was hit by one of those little forks too whilst doing land based game fishing (LBG), they both were knocked to the ground and OK. It missed the other 4 in their fishing group. These guys were seasoned game fishers and it looked "OK" to fish coz the lightning was miles away off shore. They were lucky to survive, my brother had a mark right on top of his head which looked like someone put out a cigarette in his scalp. Contrary to popular belief it didn't hit his rod's tip, just the top of his head. Bloody idiot it could have killed him.
Since then I don't even want to step outside when a lightning storm is nearby, you've got to be a fool to keep on sailing.
Yeah bloody dangerous to windsurf with lightning around. I think a windsurfer was killed by lightning in an electrical storm back in the 80s.
YEAH listen to the DOG he is spot on. when the lighting show is on you fellas come in and dont try and play mr. big tough guy
hm... to be honest it makes absolutely not difference wether you are out on the water or standing on the beach. If anything you more likely to be killed standing barefoot on the beach as you well grounded. The only way to be 100% safe would be sitting in a car not touching anything metal.
That said I used to sail the Bavarian lakes in the 90s. The thunderstorms there are pretty violent and will usually bring 30 minutes of 40knts + in winds. There was a case where a 13 year old buy was killed by a lightning strike standing about 50 meters from the waters edge while several dozen of people on the lake didn't even fall in.
I seem to remember reading a report about it saying that in essence it is a myth that lightning will always strike the highest point unless the highest point is a very high structure such as a TV tower. I am guessing that out on the ocean you essentially will need a direct or very near by strike to get killed. The chances of that happening is less being eaten by a shark... not that I would want to try out either.
Golfers (a group of people known to be risk takers) often recommend suspending play when lightning is within 8kms. We (Windsurfers and Kiters) probably make more attractive targets (pardon the pun).
At the Formula event at Jervis Bay a couple of weeks ago a lightning storm came through and everyone got off the water quicksmart. You cannot outrun a lightning bold, doesnt matter how fast you are.
JB
Select to expand quoteHe showed me his boom and wetsuit to prove it, there was clear burnt black spots the size of a pea made by the arc. He reckons he was lucky not have have lost conciousness otherwise he would have drowned. I went down the lake and saw the tree too, around 30 foot tall, it looked like a giant with a huge block splitter hit it right down the middle creating two splintery halves. No burn marks which surprised me but showed the power of lightning when it reaches the ground.
Since then I don't even want to step outside when a lightning storm is nearby, you've got to be a fool to keep on sailing.
Some smart bloke told me that lightning starts from the ground up, but the anecdotal evidence points elsewhere. Anyway that's one lucky sailor.
Hey Tim,
It couldve been Leo and the Mayor of NSW or the Prince of Pittwater (he has so many names these days). They were down there but Im sure were smart enough to get off the water as the storms brewed.
Awesome lightning show last night too!!!!!!!!!!
There was a guy up here nicknamed Lucky, reason being years ago he was windsurfing on Tinaroo Dam when the top of his mast was hit by lightning. Knocked him unconscious into the water. He only survived because another windsurfer got to him in time and revived him.
Me, I was playing around on a river in a small cheap plastic raft when a thunder storm came over, because of the heavy rain I turned the raft over and got under. I had my arms out and over the top to stop it blowing away, my wife was just hanging on underneath. Then there was a bloody loud bang and I copped the mother of all jolts through my chest (didn't affect my arms), my wife never felt a thing. It must have hit near by and I copped some sort of radiating voltage.
So there's no way I'll sail anywhere near a thunder storm, I don't give a rats what the chances are, the potential is to ruin your day 
i was derigging at currumbin while watching a thunderstorm over surfers paradise. virtually every second or third lightning strike hit the spire of the q1 tower. i think i'm 99.999% convinced that lightning likes tall metal stuff
After hearing lightning strike on our farm a few years ago went out to find an old gum tree torched and eight dead sheep under a tree 30metres away!
You have got to respect that much electricity.
a bit of interesting trivia i came across was that epoxy resin is a good conductor when it's an uncured liquid, but a poor one once hardened, but heat can soften the epoxy back to a conductive state
I have to say that since I read a story in a mag about a guy getting zapped on a lake in teh US, I have been wary of lightning on the water.
Waving a gold club around is a danger and so it waving a carbon mast, IMHO.
Top Gear proved that you are quite safe in a car though. They sent the Hampster in to be fried alive, and both he and the car survived quite nicely.
at least it would give more nomination to the Darwin Awards
darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2006-14.html
Ohh no Jason Robbie and Bjorn don't sail in those big waves Please come in next time.....You might get hurt...
Have you all grown clitoarisses???
Please come in next time.....You might get hurt...
.when I was ignorant..
I thought the car was the safest place around
but i did wonder why then my cousin got struck on the arm once driving around town
may be the car is not that safe
