On the water in a metal pontoon boat as a lightning and rain storm approaches. What action should be taken?

boats regulaly get struck by lightning - a fair bit of damage is done. Water generally is a better conductor than dry ground! Keel boats & large power boats cant get taken "off the water" & they survive. I would prefer t obe ashore & under cover in a nice warm dry building but if caught out I'd make sure I wasn't the highest point on the boat, would isolate myself as far as possible from the metal in the hulls & enjoy the light show. If I suddenly found my hair trying to stand on end I'd go for an instant swim! There is normally one or two seconds between the initial forming of the conductive path & the actual lightning strike.

Plan A, B, C, D, and all through Z is get off the water! a boat is not grounded unless it is on the trailer on the ground. Surprisingly water is a poor electrical conductor and thus the electrical currant seeks a more suitable path why standing in water is bad YOU are the suitable path.. Even in a tornado force winds and mile high waves head for land. With modern forecasting you almost never should be in this situation if prepared. I dont know of many lakes where you are more than a few minutes from land it may not be a dock or landing area but you are close to land. granted the great lakes or the ocean but in all actuality most common lakes have land relatively close.

I have read the responses here and just have to laugh at some of them. As an old retired Physics instructor with too many years of experience and an avid boater, I can tell you that the safest thing by far is to get off the lake. But the metal in the boat, just like the metal in a car will conduct the current around it, not necessarily to the ground, especially if your in the water. A remark made by one of the responders said that water is a poor conductor, and it is if its chemically pure with no dissolved substances in it, but if you have seawater or lake water with tons of dissolved ions it will conduct like hell and fry your azz in a heartbeat, so don't buy into that LIE. You could conceivably be standing on your fiberglass floorboard in a metal pontoon boat with rubber soled shoes on and still get electrocuted by being in the intense electrical field of a charge passing around your boat. Your not going to stand a chance and don't take one. Get off the lake as soon as threatening weather approaches.

I would prefer t obe ashore & under cover in a nice warm dry building but if caught out I'd make sure I wasn't the highest point on the boat, would isolate myself as far as possible from the metal in the hulls & enjoy the light show.

Harry's wrong. Even if you're lying flat in the bottom, when that boat is hit by lightning, you're going to be a casualty. If you can hear thunder, no matter how faint, it's time to get the heII off the water.

Fuzzy got the only thumbs down so I gave best answer to him so he would feel better. As with all the other queries I've attempted the answer is mixed opinions. I suppose the only person who could answer with authority has either died as a result of staying on the water or remains afloat watching the light show. Thanks all for the answers.

the boat is grounded and will conduct better than you if your not the tallest thing on board lol. might want to have a metal lightning rod. usually the canopy frame is good enough. sometimes it blows in faster than you can get to shelter.

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First, check for spiders, then relax and enjoy your cruise. You have a greater chance of being of being bit by a tarantula than being hit by lightning.

get off the water in all cases