I was out in the monster storm we had in perth on sunday arvo. NW at Contacio(scarborough).
It dumped 40mm of rain in about two hours , which was at exactly the time I was on the water. Unbelievable conditions , wind mostly at about 15- 18 knts with some insane gusty periods of (estimated) 26-28 knts. I was on my 13m YARGA - 72kgs - 132 FLX
The rain was so heavy at times it felt like it was hailing- rain smacking into the back of my head,ears and eyes - could hardly see at times
BUT the most interesting thing was the static electrical charges. At the start of my session (when I wasn't fully wet through my wetsuit ) Every time I landed a jump it felt like I was painfully cracking my elbow joints with an audible 'crack', but then later on, when soaked through, I could just hear a 'fzzz' sound when my board was about 300mm above the water on coming down from the jump. I only saw 1 lightning bolt while on the water and was just wondering if it's safe to be on the ocean in a lightning storm and if any body else has experienced this. .
there was only one other kiter out there with me that day and he was experiencing painfull static charges while jumping his kite on the sand(very wet sand) and also felt the charges while riding.

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Originally posted by daggy

I was out in the monster storm we had in perth on sunday arvo. NW at Contacio(scarborough).
It dumped 40mm of rain in about two hours , which was at exactly the time I was on the water. Unbelievable conditions , wind mostly at about 15- 18 knts with some insane gusty periods of (estimated) 26-28 knts. I was on my 13m YARGA - 72kgs - 132 FLX
The rain was so heavy at times it felt like it was hailing- rain smacking into the back of my head,ears and eyes - could hardly see at times
BUT the most interesting thing was the static electrical charges. At the start of my session (when I wasn't fully wet through my wetsuit ) Every time I landed a jump it felt like I was painfully cracking my elbow joints with an audible 'crack', but then later on, when soaked through, I could just hear a 'fzzz' sound when my board was about 300mm above the water on coming down from the jump. I only saw 1 lightning bolt while on the water and was just wondering if it's safe to be on the ocean in a lightning storm and if any body else has experienced this. .
there was only one other kiter out there with me that day and he was experiencing painfull static charges while jumping his kite on the sand(very wet sand) and also felt the charges while riding.

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Huh ya
Just in case your serious, NO, we like you raw, not cooked

If you're going to get all Dr Karl on us, when you jumped, you broke the connection with the "ground", you, your kite and lines accumulated a charge, which discharged when you landed, resulting in the crack in your elbows or fzzzt even before you landed. You were a 30m high 13m2 lightning rod in the middle of a big flat area.
At the time did you think it was dangerous?

i feel we have a up and coming star for a darwin award

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Originally posted by daggy

Well actually I am serious == Dr Karl reckons if you're completly wet you're actually pretty safe cause the current moves happily straight through you. And surely the lightning will be attracted to the path of least resistance - that'd be the big blob of salty water, that's my theory and I;m sticking to it

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I'd have to say that i watched a mythbusters and they figured that you'd be ok a little stuned but ok.

On the other hand touching anything metal would be a down fall. I have a friend that had his hand on a metal sail boat mast that was hit by lighting and it exited through his feet onto the wet deck and it did some damage. He's still alive but has some nasty scares from it 9inside and out). Sailors try to stay away from big lighting storms granted they have big conductors sticking up out of them but it still not safe.

Any one that thinks kiting in a lighting storm is a couple marbles short.

"get back in the car..."
but then I'd be missing out on my session.
You can see the bind I'm in

bohr or who ever the guy was that did the kite in lightning tests didnt actually hold the kite himself, he only had a hunch about lightning and thought it was a good idea to get a street kid to hold the line not him self.

No doubt about it, lightening is weird. About 18 months ago a couple of people got fried in their small open dinghy just after coming out from under the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They had even waited the recommended 20 mins since the last thunderbolt and thought they were ok.

A couple of years ago I got caught in an unexpected and severe electrical storm on my motorcycle after going over the crest of the NSW South Coast ranges near Braidwood. About a dozen bolts dropped less than 500m away from me over a half hour period. Worse still, the storm dumped snow and ice was forming on the road. I figured a moving target was harder to hit and just kept going, albeit at 60kph. I escaped.

Flying a kite in an electrical storm....??? And you are serious???

Well, I cant think of a much better way to kill yourself. You might have to do it a lot though, lightening being so unpredicable....

A couple of years ago in Beaduc, France I was kiting with a mate when dark clouds came up. Saw some lightning and thought I may start heading back to shore. And, of course I didn't, with 25knots side shore it's not as simple as it sounds. 30min later I saw a lightning strike hitting the ground maybe 2km from where I was and in the same instant I got electrocuted. Thank good it was just a weak stroke, similar to a electric fence but 10 seconds later we were both on shore

I was surprised seeing him there but the same happened to him being about 200m away.

I can’t give a precise explanation for what happened but the air was charged, charged enough to scare the crap out of us. One would think the energy would get discharged at the place where it hit the ground.

That was it for the day, we enjoyed a couple of beers in the van and made our way down the long bumpy road to the next village for some more beer.

About half of the people hit by Lightning die, many/most are wet. You'll lessen the injury by wearing less clothing and being very wet. Hopefully the discharge will track over the body on wet skin and not need to go through the internal part of your body (if that happens body bits fall/get blown off). The discharge will produce superheated steam very close to the body and cause severe burns. Less restrictive clothing allows the superheated steam to escape easier and quicker resulting in lesser burns (wet suit might be a very good steam container unfortunately). Metal near the skin or even parts of the harness spreader bar for example might melt and burn into your body. If your very lucky you'll live but even if you recover physically there is a chance and recent evidence has hinted that your brain can become "re-wired" and your personality can be effected. You might find kiting boring and take up knitting!

Back in 2000 a guy in Switzerland got killed by a lightning strike and a few weeks later a guy got killed when his kite hit overhead power lines. The following month they banned kitesurfing in all lakes the same time they legalised pot, i guess it was a good time to start smoking that stuff [}:)] I met a Swiss guy in Holland at the 2000 world cup, he had to travel to other countries to go for a kite.

This week's "A lot more stupid than they look" go to Mike, Nathan and myself.

Don't think I have ever been as scared on a kite as during yesterday arvo's electrical storm.

Even better that it fined up for a couple of hours afterwards making perfect conditions, while I was at home crying like a little girl.

Lightning will travel along the easiest path it can find, lines with salt and moisture in them will conduct, you might actually set of a strike, cause you are making it easier for the discharge to occure. only way to be safe ,would be to wear a suit, covering yourself all over made of metal mesh, may be aluminium foil, or carbon would do the trick too.
But my best suggestion would be to go out after dark and take out some neon tubes, strap them to your lines and body, they should actually light up constantly as you are kiting allong
Ray

Yea electrical storm + kitesurfing is definitely a very bad idea.

From memory the Dr Karl answer is referring to you being in the water, not on the water, and certainly not with 25m of lightening conducting kitelines sticking into the air.

I think the theory basically goes that once the lightening hits the water, the electrical charge dissipates rapidly, so if it hits further away than a couple of meters you will probably be OK. If it hits you directly though you are still screwed... or at least very very sore. And with aforementioned kite still airborne, you are certainly increasing your chances of being in the path of least resistance.

Keep an eye on the weather and if u see a storm, take a break. An hour of kiting today is a heavy price to pay for a lifetime of kiting to come.