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Paddling in a lightning storm

Glenn MacGrady

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This is a situational "what do you do" topic.

You are paddling on open water, not near the put-in, take-out or the day's campsite. The shore has trees and bushes, and so does a nearby small island. A strong lightning storm quickly blows in—the kind you know will blow out and be over in 30 minutes or so. What is your safety practice? Where do you go and what do you do?

I've never been sure about the electrical conductivity of lightning that hits water. Can it reach my canoe? Nor am I sure about how insulated I am in a canoe made of different materials—wood vs. plastic vs. composite*. I assume an aluminum canoe would be the most conductive.

I've always been told not to go under a lone tree, or a lone copse of trees, or the tallest tree in a lightning storm. I wouldn't go to the small island for fear that it stands out too much.

So, what I've usually done is to put on my rain gear, park near the shore under some low trees or brush, and wait out the storm while sitting in the (not aluminum) canoe. But maybe I'd really be safer if I got out of the canoe and tried to sit on land under those low trees or bushes.

When it's just rain and light wind, I prefer to paddle in the rain rather than try to set up camp at some iffy location.
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* This topic entered my head when I was reading that: "Since [E-fiberglass] was developed specifically for use in electrical applications, one of its key characteristics is its ability to insulate electricity." This made me wonder if an E-glass canoe would be the safest hull material.
 
We’ve had several welded aluminum boats at work, including our former 46’ and 60’ work boats. I always wondered about lightning in those specifically. With canoes, I am under the impression that most composites are insulating, but maybe not carbon fiber. You don’t want to be the tallest thing in a field or on water, and you don’t want to be under the tallest thing either… but is it any better being on the island in a tent? I’m not real sure.
 
I've always gotten off the water or hung out on the bank in a thunder storm but continue to paddle on the rain. With everything being wet, it's be dubious of any electrical insulating properties of any water craft
 
I usually get out of the boat (aluminum gunwales!) and try to find some skinny trees to loiter in.

One thing to keep in mind about lightning is that the ground currents are more likely to get you than the more dramatic stuff (e.g., direct hit, poof!). To minimize ground current risk, obviously avoid being near tall stuff that would draw a direct strike, but also minimize the spread of your contact points with the ground -- feet together, don't sit or lie down. For similar reasons I would avoid being in a hammock, the potential difference between the two trees might be enormous even if neither one was directly struck.

The national weather service has some info here:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/lightning-struck

99.9% of the time when you hear advice about lightning it's "go indoors!", which is not much help to trippers.
 
The one time I remember being in a situation like that I went into a small cove with trees along the shore and hunkered down in the bottom of the royalex solo canoe waiting out the storm and wondering whether that was the appropriate choice. I was less than a mile from the landing I was heading for but there was open water to cross to get there.

Could an aluminum canoe be an asset if one had a metal mesh canopy that could be deployed to turn it into a Faraday cage?
 
@goonstroke 's got it, according to Wilderness First Responder training and most of what I've read. Being under a group of low trees well away from the tallest trees is ideal. For the same reason, if I could make shore instead of the island I would, but the island is better than exposed in the canoe on the water.

To truly minimize ground contact they say to crouch on the balls of your feet with your feet together, ideally ON your pack as extra insulation. I find that last part pretty impractical, and the feet together crouch would get tiring quickly, but I'd do it for a minute if lightning is truly crashing down around me.

Another aspect of ground current is that often members of the same group often get hit because they're huddled together. If you're in a group and it's a real danger, spread out (several tens of yards/meters apart). That way if one person does get hit, the rest don't and can provide first aid/call for help.
 
I was picking up an engine part at a marina on Lake Champlain a few years ago. Up on stands was a large (40’ish) fiberglass sail boat. All around the waterline were baseball size burn holes. The owner said it didn’t take a direct hit, but was very near by. He also said he was moored in a cove and it didn’t even seem like a big storm. I realize sailboats aren’t canoes, but that made a big impression to me to get yourself off the water ASAP.

Bob
 
Got caught in a bad thunder storm and downpour while racing on the Yukon River in a large carbon voyageur canoe. Debated for a while what to do, but decided to continue on since we were in a canyon section with high rocky cliffs on both sides and thus felt relatively protected. The worst part was the heavy gusty winds and waves.
 
I think I would get off the water and hunker down near shore. There's a lot of downed trees and boulders in the North Country that may serve as a good spot if there's a chance the storm may bring down more trees around you. And I would try to use my pack and/or pfd to sit on. I've seen some pretty impressive pics of where lightning struck a tree or ground and traveled along root systems and basically shredded the roots and left pretty deep and wide trenches in their wake.

Barry
 
Kathleen and I returned three days ago from a 17-day canoe trip on the Barren Grounds (Tundra) 300 km (200 miles) east of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. We endured three lightning storms. The first was just 15 minutes after the float plane dropped us off on a sandy beach. No trees around, tall or short. We huddled and waited to put on the water for two hours before it was over.

The second storm began when we were paddling at about six in the morning, in what had been fairly calm water. We headed to a rocky shore. No trees, tall or short. It was over in about 30 minutes, but the subsequent very strong wind and menacing, rolling waves prevented paddling for about another 30 minutes.

The third was when we were in our tent, on a sandy beach at about 8:00 pm. A driving rain. No trees, tall or short. We stayed in the tent, hoping for the best. Sometimes I wonder if I’m truly having fun on these canoe trips.
 
And I would try to use my pack and/or pfd to sit on.
The idea of trying to balance on a loaded pack always struck me as impractical, but a PFD would be a great insulator mat given the circumstances - hadn't thought of that one!

Also a great point about paying attention to trees, especially dead ones, that may come down on you as you hunker from a storm. Plenty of people are killed by falling trees in storms as well as lightning.
 
I always think, "path of least resistance". Get to shore or close to shore. Be lower than the surroundings. Don't stand next to the neighborhood "lightning rod." Under trees is good, but the tallest tree in the forest is bad. Don't lean up against or touch the metal fence. If there are nearby strikes, feet together so that the current can't run up one leg and down the other. My only close calls were while cycling - lightning hit the bus shelter across the street from me, and another time hit a phone pole as I rode by...gets your attention.
A good read on being hit by lightning is Gretel Erlich's book, "A Match to the Heart"
 
The third was when we were in our tent, on a sandy beach at about 8:00 pm. A driving rain. No trees, tall or short. We stayed in the tent, hoping for the best. Sometimes I wonder if I’m truly having fun on these canoe trips.
Many times I’ve layed in my tent listening to the storm raging outside and telling my dog to go back to sleep. I know it’s not the best place to be if there are trees, but I’ve never had the will to get out of my warm, dry bag and seek safety in the rain.

Barry
 
I try to make for a lee shore to shelter from the wind if possible. Time permitting I'll throw up a small tarp to keep some gear dry. If there's some terrain nearby that rises significantly from shore, I'll try and make it there.

Under no circumstances do I ever remain on open water in a lightning storm or take shelter on an island.
 
Could an aluminum canoe be an asset if one had a metal mesh canopy that could be deployed to turn it into a Faraday cage?

This is an interesting question.

Many claim that a car will function as a Faraday cage if it has a metal frame, and hence will protect you if struck by lightning. The electrical current will go through the metal frame, leave the interior of the car alone, and then enter the ground. The rubber tires have nothing to do with it, however, contrary to popular opinion.

However, I question whether you have to be insulated from the conductive frame when sitting inside a Faraday cage, as you likely would be in a car by the plastics, fabrics and upholstery that cover the metal frame. In an aluminum canoe covered by a mesh canopy, my guess is that you would have to insulate your skin well from all the metal of the hull and mesh.

The video below shows some TV show experimenters testing the Faraday cage protection of a car when hit by simulated lightning. It works, but the 800,000 volts they are hit with from the power plant is far below the average 300 million volt lightning bolt.


Of course, sitting in a canoe or on land during a lightning storm, hunched under short trees, will probably not subject you to the full 300 million volts of a direct lightning strike, but rather to the ground travel or water travel of the electricity from a distanced strike. So, does the electricity from a distant strike travel more strongly, or dissipate faster, if the strike hits the land or the water? Articles such as this one . . .


. . . say:

"Generally, lightning can travel for 20 feet through water before dissipating. How far the charge travels depends on the intensity of the lightning, topography of the water, salinity and temperature. Lightning does not penetrate deep into water, but the charge disperses in all directions, favoring the surface.

"Despite water being a good electrical conductor, lightning doesn’t travel further in water than over land. On the ground, electrical current spreads out in streams, and this allows it to go farther than if it dissipated uniformly through the water. The uniform dissipation of the electrical charge means that the total affected area is larger than on land, but the distance at which the charge remains dangerous is significantly smaller."

I'm going to make the probabilistic assumption that if I'm on a lake with treed shores, it's more likely that lightning will strike the high trees on the land than the much lower water surface. Hence, I'm more likely to be subject to indirect ground travel electricity, which remains dangerous for longer distances, than indirect water travel electricity, which dissipates faster. If that's all true, I think I'll stay in my canoe in the water near the shore trees rather than sit on the land under them.
 
I heard to squat on a pad and try to keep ankles touching and also don't hug you knees and keep your joints bent. The reason for the ankles, path of least resistance up one down the other. The bent joints and not hugging knees is to let the electricity blow out of you. And lastly spread out away from others this way you can help the injured, how far apart I'm not sure but shouting distance should do it. Personally the squating seem logical.
 
Power company trucks have "insulated booms" meaning just the bucket and or extending arm are insulated from ground, the truck is not. And the tires are not insolators. Also the glove system (3 plus pairs) that thy use are to insulate them from the electricity
 
...
Another aspect of ground current is that often members of the same group often get hit because they're huddled together. If you're in a group and it's a real danger, spread out (several tens of yards/meters apart). That way if one person does get hit, the rest don't and can provide first aid/call for help.

That reminds me, last summer a farmer in central Maine lost 8 cows to lightning. They were all huddled together under a tree.
 
I read a horrifying account of a Keewaydin group, I believe, who were traveling on the Albany River when a big storm blew in. They sought refuge on an island. Lightening hit the island, and the ground lightening took out several participants. A couple of them were badly hurt, although i don't think anyone died. Islands would be a no-no for me.
 
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