I hear two situations discussed here related to lightening. 1) Far from shore. 2) Close to shore. Discussion for number two centers around where to paddle with least danger -- as in, below a cliff. Seems to me if one is close to shore, the safest thing to do is go TO shore, get out of the boat and get your bod on to an electrical insulator like organic matter. Top soil, leaves, wood etc. are all far better than rock, which is far better than fresh water, which is far better than salt water. And of course, dry organic matter is preferable to wet organic matter. Don't know where sand fits in. I assume, like rock, it is fairly conductive. Further, there are a lot of other choices on land that are lacking in the water. Look for the tallest tree or trees in the area, then go a hundred yards away from them. Look for a stand of even height trees adjacent to a stand of taller trees. Go sit in the middle of the shorter stand. Look for a large even height 10 acre shrub patch near some taller trees. Crawl into the middle of the shrubs. Look for a slight rise in the terrain to sit on. As pointed out elsewhere -- don't touch your body to the ground in 2 distant points. IE, standing on one leg is better than doing a push-up. The choice of sites can probably be made best from the kayak while paddling madly toward shore. Peace, Brian *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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