Rafael wrote: >Could that suggest that in a thunderstorm, while in the water, one >should not use alluminum shaft paddles and keep the wet paddles out >of the water, and horizontal, so that one is also a floating point?. > >I wonder if there are some data of kayakers hit by thunderstorms in >the sea. Maybe plastic and fiberglass kayaks are good enough >insulation to protect kayakers form lightning. from http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000001-d000100/d000007/d000007.html "Let's consider a few possibilities...sitting in your aluminum or fiberglass rowboat, you are holding a graphite (a good electrical conductor) fishing rod. The rod is struck by lightning. The electrical charge passes through the rod, your body, then to the boat to the water." Replace 'rowboat' with 'kayak' and 'fishing rod' with 'paddle' --- you get the idea. From the same page: "...small boats are seldom made of metal. Their wood and fiberglass construction do not provide the automatic grounding protection offered by metal-hulled craft. Therefore, when lightning strikes a small boat, the electrical current is searching any route to ground and the human body is an excellent conductor of electricity! " And on what to do if caught in a lighting storm: "Stay in the center of the cabin if the boat is so designed. If no enclosure (cabin) is available, stay low in the boat. Don't be a "stand-up human" lightning mast!" Read: Kayaker on the water in a lightning storm == human lightning mast Also, keep in mind that lighting is drawn to the edge of water bodies (higher objects and better conductivity). So when leaving the water, don't hang around near the shore. Brian Curtiss *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Wed Aug 21 2002 - 09:27:41 PDT
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