Re: [Paddlewise] Thunderstorms

We had a lenghty discussion about thunder storms here in FInland as well
last summer.

I have been three times in a bad thunderstorm, and the strong
winds were the biggest threat. Getting to the shore is important, if the wind
might take you to the open sea.

Once a friend got swept to the open sea
and capsized because of the gusts (strong sudden wind?). We had no time
to worry about lightnings, as we had to concentrate in not getting too far
to the open sea. That time the thunderstorm broke so suddenly we had
no idea it was going to get to us. The wind was from SW and the
thunderstrom started in two minutes with strong northern winds. I guess
thats typical of thunderstorms.
The second bad thunderstorm was in Estonia last summer, and we only had
100 meters to get to the shore, but it was really hard work.
The third one was one night in a National Park in Finland: we were camping
on a really small island. There were 20 000 lightnings during the night,
the rock beneath my mattress was trembling from the noise. I did not sleep
well. It was the worst thunderstorm in the area in 20 years.

Anyways, in the Finnish newsgroup sfnet.harrastus.melonta (it means about
the same as rec.paddle...) there was this discussion, and it ended with
the note of an expert: a lightning researcher from Finnish Meteorological
Inatitution thought it might be  possible that a kayaker would get hit on
the water. He wrote that if the air gets really full of electricity, you
will notice it, because hair will get up (it was logical, if this sounds
stupid its due to my lack of English skills),  you have reason to
worry.
He recommended, that one should take the paddle in right hand, invert one
blade into the water and if the lightning strikes, the upper paddle blade would direct
the electricity along the paddle shaft to the water. And the right hand - not
the left, because the electricity would be less likely to hurt your heart
that way. But PLEASE, do not try this at home...

The idea of feeling the electricity in the air is useful. Last
summer I experienced my hair standing up once, and quite soon it
started: thunder and storm, but I had just had time to get to the shore.

Personally I would believe that on the water, staying low would reduce the
risk, but
this is just an amateur guess. At least staying low reduces the effect of
strong stormwinds.


Anna Leena Lind
alli_at_iki.fi
Helsinki, Finland


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