Fishing In Storms

[patl]

I have a question, or should I say a couple.

The last couple days we have had thundery storms with some lightining.

1st question - if stuck out in one of these storms what should you do? for example lay as much stuff flat as possible, disconnect the battery and wait for the storm to pass??

2nd question - if you are struck by lightining at sea in a boat, what would happen, would it make a difference between glass or plate. As electricity takes the easiest path to earth wouldnt everything be earthed?

3rd question - we have all been sometimes in the wrong place at the wrong time, what stories have you guys got

... one example I was out in BB a couple of years back i seen this waterspout that was downright scary, at one stage I couldnt work out for sure in what direction it was heading, luckily it turned away but getting hit by it would have ruined my day! I been caught out in a couple of storms where it was raining that hard I had to put the bilge pump to get some water out of the boat etc...

Your thoughts or ideas?

Thanks

Patrick

Edited January 24, 2005 by patl

[Guest Jocool]

2nd question - if you are struck by lightining at sea in a boat, what would happen, would it make a difference between glass or plate. As electricity takes the easiest path to earth wouldnt everything be earthed?

28799[/snapback]

What happens is YOU DIE!

My mums cousin was fishing in Botany a few years back. Thunderstorm came over very quickly, struck him and his tinny...INSTANT DEATH!

[tony]

2nd question - if you are struck by lightining at sea in a boat, what would happen, would it make a difference between glass or plate. As electricity takes the easiest path to earth wouldnt everything be earthed?

28799[/snapback]

What happens is YOU DIE!

My mums cousin was fishing in Botany a few years back. Thunderstorm came over very quickly, struck him and his tinny...INSTANT DEATH!

28801[/snapback]

Sorry to hear that JooCool, that not nice.

Me iam a chicken i run for cover or home ASAP.

think that sums up the one and only correct answer.

[tony]

But I did get stuck in one bad one on Glenbawn dam, Complete white out no sense of direction. hail pelting down,thunder and lightning and wind scared the shit out of me. The only time i have ever thrown a life jacket to me partner in me boat. We idled till we hit shore and ramed the bank and sat it out under cover. As luck had it the dam had risen and we were under small spindley bushes. Stopped the hail and we sat it out. The same storm lifted the roof off the pub in town.

[Bashir]

We were fishing for kings on anzac day a couple of years ago on the northern beaches when we saw a storm coming so decided to head back in. As we approached Barrenjoey, we ralised we had left too late and drove into the biggest scariest thing I've ever experienced. At the time, I was still learning a lot about our boat's handling but I felt I handled it all pretty well. Those signature hulls are nothing short of superb. visibility was zero from all the rain and the waves were just absoloutely massive, we broke the mounts on our cutting board too that day.

[Ken A]

If you are out in an electrical storm Patrick if you can't get to shore & get out of the boat at least try to get in close to shore where there are a few higher objects around than your boat.

If you get hit your fried.

[Grantm]

Thats bloody scary stuff Never really thought about lightening on a boat. Have run for cover many times playing golf but never been out on a boat in a thunderstorm.

I was checking out an Okuma boat rod the other day and it had written on it : WARNING THIS ROD CONTAINS CARBON WHICH ATTRACTS LIGHTENING. Great selling point - NOT.

Maybe wear a pair of rubber soled safety thongs

[Guest Boppa]

I got caught badly in the Hawkesbury one day and it was going to pour down.

It was bloody cold as well

Now don't read on if you don't have a strong stomach

The first thing I did was take off all my clothes and stored them in a dry place so when the storm had passed I had dry clothes to put back on and it was a lot better than being wet I can tell you

Now lets see the comments come in

Boppa

[Guest Big-Banana]

Oh I can just imagine.

[Ken A]

Nasty stuff Boppa Sounds like the rain was bad too

I was in Cowan back in 87 when that storm came through & wiped out Turramurra & Pymble Now that was a bad one- 2 metre wind waves in Cowan & my crew had life jackets on. I got many bruises & cuts on my face from hail - the joys of a centre console in a storm. Cottage Point recorded the first wind gusts at 70 knots & they were a bit sheltered there

[Grantm]

The first thing I did was take off all my clothes and stored them in a dry place so when the storm had passed I had dry clothes to put back on and it was a lot better than being wet I can tell you   

Now lets see the comments come in   

Boppa

28900[/snapback]

Ill have a shot.

Hey Boppa what are you worried about ? isnt that your picture in the avatar ? Looks like your in pretty good shape ! Is that a pic of you in the storm ?

[mark_s]

I got caught in an nasty eletrical storm in Tuggerah lake not long after I brought my boat. Had only just launched at Toukely when it hit. Spent two hours under the Toukely bridge before we were game enough to return to the ramp (which was only a couple of hundred metres away!)

[Guest bluecod]

The worst electrical storm I've seen, found us out very early morning at Chorley's in a 4.3 CC tinny. We decided to make a run for Brisbane Waters as that appeared to be out of the path of the storm, which incidentally was coming straight down Broken Bay from Cowan.

Bad decision as it turned out we drove right through the centre of it, sheet lighning everywhere, every headland and high point seemed to be hit by ligtning and if you looked up you could see the glowing dust particles/supercharged ions in the air after the lightning had ripped through it.

My crew thought they were going to die and I wasn't too sure of a long life either.

I did what Boppa did, stripped to my jocks and we hit the Ettalong Beach running to the awning at the little shop just over from the ramp.

Funny thing was, the storm was still that intense it was ten minutes before anyone asked why I was standing there in my undies dripping wet!

[REKLESS]

Ive had some bad weather out wide ,the stongest wind was when we got caught in the green storn that destroyed the eastern suburbs a few years back,there was a game comp on and there were two boats that were calling out mayday,we were about 10 km wide of the peak in a 28ft haines and could see it coming,the tension in the air was immense as we could see the front of the storm rolling at us ,with the 2 mhz radio going off with the two boats being swamped and we were in calm weather about to get nailed.We got through by battening everything down ,steering by compass and just keeping the pointy end in to the weather at a fast idle.

The worst waves were coming in over the banks off nowra in a 38ft yacht with a following sea,in autumn with a 4m swell and a 4m sea,we got caught out big time on that one and I still beleive that if we had of been in anything else but that yacht we would have sank,Only the third time I have put on a life jacket.Yuk,not recommended.