Saturday I was out canoeing on a river when a strong lightning storms blew in. The river was only about 70 feet across, 15-foot sandy banks on either side and mature maples and oaks beyond that. The ground was soaked due to all the recent rain.

When the first thunder was heard we landed the aluminum canoe and headed to the center of the sandy bank. We didn't want to be under the trees but we didn't want to be near the big, metal canoe or in/near the water. The storm went right over us with lightning striking all around us. During that time we separated from each other about 25 feet (figuring if one got hit the other would survive) and stood on our life jackets hoping they would offer some insulation. It was the scariest thing I've been through in years. I forgot how loud thunder is when you aren't in a house. We were miles away from any help with no place for a helicopter to land. Any sort of rescue would have taken hours.

Anyway, did we handle this situation properly or did we just get lucky? How far away from a lightning strike is safe? Was there any advantage to standing on our life jackets? How far apart would we need to be to both avoid getting hit by the same blast (no pun intended)?

-Blast