Any stories about lightning?
I have surfed through major weather changes and have seen lightning but strange thing is myself and mates have never had any close calls with lightning. Yeah the odds but look at lee trevino.
Anyway during todays session weather did a massive shift and a few bolts appeared. Most people dug out. I enjoyed the crowd-less afternoon in the surf then on the way home those bolts got me wondering.
Any one here with any real experiences or know of any?
Cheers.
Received a small shock once when surfing through a lightning storm. That’s been it for me.
The fact of it is. If you are the highest point you have a greater chane of being struck . the human body contain a lot of salt whih is a conductor. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
About ten years ago a guy was surfing here when a storm started to move in on the horizon and he got struck in the neck by a lightnning bolt. Burned his throat to toast and killed him. I always leave the water when I see a flash or hear thunder. the one thing that will get me out right away.
After a little searching I came up with this:
http://www.surfline.com/mag/pulse/2001/aug/08_24_lightning.cfm
It is so bizarre I have been on and in the water much of my life and seen plenty lightning bolts but never a person on the water or beach get hit. On the other hand I have also seen sharks and remnants of shark attacks but according to the percentages it should be the other way round.
The beach here has a rather steep incline and the surrounding trees go up even higher but to play it safe I will scramble up the beach to just outside the tree line.
Higher ground is not where I really want to be though apparently.
Someone was killed by lightning on the beach at Sandy Hook this weekend here in New Jersey.
And that’s not the first time. I know of at least one more incident on another beach in Barnegat Light, NJ. If I see lightning or hear thunder I take the next wave in.
Yeah,
It wasn’t a good weekend around here.
I got the concerned mother call late last night.
12 lightning strikes
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/nyregion/28lightning.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin
And a bunch of people drowned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/28/nyregion/28drown.html?ref=nyregion
Any stories about lightning?
Only one. About 20+ years ago, one of the most crowded waves in the world, Sebastian Inlet First Peak, cleared out during a wicked lighting storm. My bud and I decided to wait, after 30 minutes the peak was totally empty so we sprinted out and surfed it nice and glassy by ourselves for a short while. Pretty rare. I remember surfing really good at the time with a shortboard I had bought in Honolulu.
Here in FL, we get a lot of close calls.
best not to screw around with lightning… someone said in the water y’re the highpoint … true true. when i was younger i’d stay out during a lightening storm. no longer. i once was standing next to a steel garbage can that got zapped … like friggen arty shell going off, but with incredible light. another time recently i was operating a boat going through a lightening storm, when a bolt hit the water nearby – boat was a wood hull, but i had my hands on one of the morse controls, and i got shocked… nothing serious… but it amazed me that i could feel it like that.
I was surfing a beach in Costa Rica when a hella lightning storm moved on shore. I took a wave in and sprinted past a guy with a boogie board running towards the water. When I yelled at him he just waved his hand at me like no problem, brudda.
I took shelter within a beach bar, and a few minutes later, heard this huge crack. A bolt of lightning came down and just center punched the poor bastard, literally charred him.
Turned out he was from Texas, and had literally just checked into his hotel room with his new bride on their honeymoon, and he wanted to just grab a few waves before dinner.
Life is short, so drink deep…
Howzit lcc, Costa Rica has some great lightning storms and got caught in one at Playa Grande, couldn’t believe how fast everyone went in and got off the beach. We get a lot of rain here on Kauai but less lightning.Aloha,Kokua
Six or seven years ago in August at Manasquan Inlet five of my team guys were getting out of the water wearing full suits when they were struck by lightning. They were wet and covered with wet sand and walking up the beach. As they approached the Inlet Beach access a lightning bolt hit the flag pole. The bolt traveled down the pole exiting from the lower part of the pole then shot across and hit the first guy nearest the pole in the head and went from one to the other until they all dropped unconscious onto the sand. This took place fast as lightning. After a short while they woke up and slowly stood up. But each was totally dry and their full suits were completely dry and sand free and their hair was sticking out wild. I wasn’t there but it was witnessed by Quiksilver’s East Coast promotions manager. All the kids were in their mid or early teens. No permanent injuries far as we know.
Qick’s guy told me it was the most bizarre thing he had ever seen.
been chased out of the water, been chased off a golf course but besides that no stories 
hope it stays that way