Close enough?

[coldsup]

Not me.....but this chap down south England had a close shave!


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[Night Wing]

If my memory serves me correctly, carbon fiber is an excellent conductor of electricity. With a carbon fiber paddle in that photo along with the lightning bolt, some people are just asking for "it" if you get my drift.

The guy is lucky he didn't end up as "lightning statistic" for cause of death.

[coldsup]

My guess is that he got quite a shock when lightning appeared......

[TallDude]

Last year they had to stop the racers mid race and get everyone off the lake. A mountain thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere mid July. Like a shark scare for everyone to get out of the water quick. Race organizer's nightmare.

[coldsup]

Last year they had to stop the racers mid race and get everyone off the lake. A mountain thunderstorm popped up out of nowhere mid July. Like a shark scare for everyone to get out of the water quick. Race organizer's nightmare.

Ouch!

[yugi]

So... what would you do when lightening is around?

Advice on a flat field is to crouch down as small as possible, minimize contact with the ground, do not lie flat.

 If lightening gets close I lie the paddle down on deck, get on knees and hand paddle in. Like proners do when kneeling. We should touch heels.

If hair begins to rise: put  head between the knees, and cover ears.

Any other tips?

[jpeter]

Carbon fiber paddle has nothing to do with the safety problem unless you are holding it over your head.  Humans conduct electricity just fine. 

Cool photo

I had my closest brush with lightning this summer on Cape Cod.   I was in the house standing by the window watching the rain come down,   Lightning struck the tree just outside my window.  VERY LOUD.  Power immediately went out.   Next day we could see where it ran down the tree and jumped to the utility pole.  Bark was blown off the tree in 3 inch wide strips.   Phone line to the house was melted in half.

jp

[DavidJohn]

So... what would you do when lightening is around?

Any other tips?

If you've got any Croc's.. put them on.. 

[Bean]

A few years back I was out on a routine solo flat-water paddle in the ocean, parallel to our beach when an localized storm kicked in.   As luck has it, a couple lifeguards in a pick-up were cruising the beach in the same direction.  From 250 yards, (uncharacteristically) I could clearly hear them on the PA...we had no sooner strapped my board down and gotten into the cab when all hell broke loose. 

If you want to stay safe, you have to do all you can, when you can...

[stoneaxe]

It's amazing how quickly it can go from amazing beauty and great fun to HOLY %$#@ing SHIT!

http://www.standupzone.com/forum/index.php/topic,27718.msg289425.html#msg289425

[Off-Shore]

In Hong Kong we get a lot of thunderstorms and so we are cautious about going out when we know thunder storms are forecasted. The Govt have an Observatory website that has an app that allows us to see up to a 256km radius around Hong Kong and see what is coming. So most of the time we will just not paddle if thunderstorms are forecasted.

However we do get caught out. And the general rule we use is to get to shore as quickly as possible and wait it out on shore.

If we are out doing a downwinder with a safety boat we have a tried and trusted signalling method to flag down the boat and get out of the water ASAP when we know a storm is approaching. Here is a vid from last year where we had to bail mid run.