SAFETY
By Mike Telleira in association with SKI-BOAT magazine
S
OUTH Africa’s rugged terrain and very hot summer months make it conducive to violent late afternoon thunder and lightning storms. The majority of South Africans have become accustomed to these and, to a degree, have become complacent about them, even though we watch in awe from the safety of our homes. When we’re on our boats — be they at sea or on the country’s inland waters — the “safety at home” scenario takes on an entirely different and dangerous perspective. Gone are the lightning strike earthing systems of our house that conduct direct or indirect strikes to earth, or, if one is in a motor vehicle, the metal Faraday Cage of the vehicle’s body which insulates the occupants therein. A boat on the water, and its occupants, are literally sitting ducks. Those South African ski-boaters
who have endured a violent electrical storm whilst out at sea will confirm how incredibly frightening it is. Those of us who mostly use our craft on the ocean tend to miss the ferocity of thunder and lightning activity which, along our inshore coastline, takes place largely in the late afternoon into early evening when the vast majority of offshore ski-boats are back on the beach. However, those who fish at night, and especially the anglers who fish on upcountry inland waters and go for booze cruises in the late afternoon and early evening, are at substantial risk. Mike Telleira who writes for the American Boating Safety Magazine — a sister magazine to Marlin and Sportfishing — willingly shared with us his findings on the subject and the numerous strategies for surviving lightning strikes while boating. Powerful, dangerous, highly unpredictable — all are common descriptions
of lightning. A direct strike that only results in ringing ears and a few roasted electronics would be considered lucky. Unlucky would be thru-hulls blown out, a sunk boat or worse – possibly serious injury or death. Many power boaters like to think they’ve got the speed to simply outrun or get out of the way of thunderstorms, or they figure they’re safe if they only go boating when it’s clear and sunny. This attitude is aided by the low odds of a boat being struck by lightning, which BoatU.S. pegs at about 1 out of 1 000 boats in any given year. No worries, right mate? Wrong. Engines can malfunction or run out of fuel, big storms can leave little to no room to escape, and bright and sunny mornings can quickly turn dark and threatening in the afternoon. If yours is the only boat in the area during a lightning storm, the odds of being stuck go way up, leaving you and your crew vulnerable to millions of volts
SKI-BOAT May/June 2021 • 35
