Hair raising experience

Its a month late, but I have to say I had a ball at ORC 14! Nice to see some faces I haven't seen in a long while and meet a whole slew of new ones! Think I may have to put that annual sojourn on the calendar and add a pot of gumbo to the "taco feed". That said, this cautionary tale is from Sunday.

I met some folk at OC the next day and, as usual, I afforded them a good head start (I was late).  It was kinda foggy, but relatively flat by the time I rolled on to the beach and it looked like everybody was done. I said hello to Capt Redbeard and Christine as they packed it in with a nice harvest, then went on to find the rest of the crew including Brian (?) from NorCal who was a little shaken. They'd come in because the last chunk of rain had some lightning in it.

Now, I'm one to puff up my chest and tell my southern kayak brethren who don't go out in the weather, that in the Great Pacific Northwest, if you don't go fishing in the rain, you don't go fishing. But they've got two factors in defense of their apparent wimpyness : 1) The rain will stop tomorrow (if not within the next twenty minutes) and 2) Lightning
That second one is the deal breaker as Florida is the lightning strike capitol of the world. That point was driven home when I first got here by two huge pines on either side of my house getting struck within a week.  Ok, so stay in or get off the water if its lightning-ing. Down here, thunder is almost a constant, so the concern is when you see the flash and you can count the interval till the rumble (or crack). Then don't be on the water.

Earlier that Sunday I'd heard the rumbling back at camp and had to ask if that was thunder or some trains bumping. Oregon doesn't get lightning storms! Maybe one or two out in the sticks to start a forest fire (or two), but nothing to be concerned about.  So when I'd heard Brian say the hair on his arms stood up and then he felt what seemed like a breeze with no wind and the hair on his head stood up too, I was a little skeptical. One little thunderstorm and you guys get spooked. Yeah right.

Yeah, WRONG

We looked at the radar on the phone, and damned it there wasn't a cell right over their heads at the time they were out there.  That was waaaaaaay too close to going to glory.
I've never experienced it and have absolutely no desire for this to become a personal damhik. But if you think about it, when you're on the water you are the highest point in the neighborhood and waving around a 7'graphite grounding rod doesn't help a thing. To further further drive home the point, there was guy killed and a number of people injured at Venice beach in SoCal a week or so later (and there is never lightning storms in L.A. especially in July!!!)
Yeah, wrong again.
The point? Freak storms are freaky. Get a weather app and check it. Best thing would be to not go out there if they're in the neighborhood. AT ALL. But what if you're already a half mile off Cape Kiwanda? What do you do? Get low and out of the water? I thought getting in or under the water might be a good idea, but I talked with a fireman who said "not so much". That was backed by the news that said all the people injured at Venice beach were in the water. I later heard another news report that said something like "if your hair stands up, get out of the water and seek shelter".  What would you do?

I recall being out on a charter boat off Jersey when I was a kid.  There was a thunderstorm a little ways off.  The sound that lightning and thunder make on the water when far enough from land to not get any echos is so differenet from the sound you hear on land.  It was spooky but super cool.  Be fun to witness that again.  From a safe distance.

It was nice to meet you out there! The thunder was definitely one of the reasons we were getting off the water when we were. That was just flat-out a weird day out there. The fog, the current kept changing directions, the wind would come and then all of a sudden go, etc.

I have no idea what to do if you're already a ways off shore and the lightning starts. Pray?

I'd go and hide under the rock. I'd rather get shit on by the birds than be out in the open under those conditions. I'd also lay my rods and net down so they aren't pointing at the sky, but also make sure they aren't touching the water. It seems to reason that the kayak would act as an insulator between you and the water so lightening may not find you to be the least resistance path to ground. I sure as hell don't want to be the one to test that theory though!

I'd probably push it just a little farther than I should and then high tail it for depression on the beach or the safety of a strangers pick-up truck. 

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=3279.msg31699#msg31699

-Spot-

I'm glad we decided to get off the water.  We stood on the beach for maybe 30 minutes before relaunching and the fishing was still hot. 

That's crazy, FFTW!

I had a close call last summer when I was working. I had stopped at a sub station during a thunderstorm to answer natures call and had just sat back in my car when a boom/crack/flash enveloped me, took my breath away, and completely disoriented me. When my vision returned after the flash, I watched a wave of blue electrical energy travel across the parking lot I was in (the asphalt was flooded with rainfall). Took a few seconds to figure out a bolt had struck the ground about 50 feet away (a decorative rusted old fire engine frame drew the strike). I have a K9 and she remained relatively calm amazingly. I think she was stunned as I was. Anyways, it literally was a hair raising experience. I think the only thing that kept me from being a crispy critter was the insulating properties of my vehicle. Crazy!