Im an idiot....

[AerialSkimmerBrad]

Well I went skimming yesterday and we thought we outran the storm.. so we get there and notice the thunder storm is heading to the beach.. not the other way.. So we skim for about an hour (We had been hearing thunder the whole time there) and then we see a lightning flash and decide not to chance it anymore.. Well the waves were much worth it since it actually wasnt flat...but then I realized... damn I coulda died if lightning struck nearer.. I came to the conclusion...Im an idiot.. Anyone else done something stupid that you came to the same conclusion?

[samcollett]

no.

[cbskimer_gma]

yeah, a couple times. i went out in a big storm in costa rica, and my freinds had to pull be off the beach. but i am glad they did.

my freind paul and i just set dates to go to the beach and we go no mater what the waves or weather are like. we get in some bad situations. but it is all good!

[Mapdash]

I was skimming juno one afternoon and a huge t-storm roled in.....the wind died and the skim got good. The lifeguard was screaming at me from the tower....little kids were running around....moms/dads were grabbing coolers and running. I went under the pier for like 10 minutes then came back out and skimmed an empty Juno...... on a Sunday.

[flskimboarder]

i have skimmed in a pretty bad lighting storm before and my boss got mad at me for doing it because i could have got myself hurt or the other guy that was working with me and thought his parents would sue if he got struck by lightning.

[CaboWabo]

One time i was windsurfing back in the day when i lived in Mobile, AL...anyways the weather there is same as rest of south east in summer, spotty thunderstorms and rare chance of wind...but anyways it was actually windy for once and i was bout a mile offshore when i started seeing lighting flashing over land, i got back to the beach just before the storm rolled out over the water and kicked the winds up to like 40mph...it was sick.

[jake]

i was bout a mile offshore when i started seeing lighting flashing over land

and thattts where you shit yourself...

ive done that in the boat. we ended up just going a few miles out and then arounddd to venice pass.. and then sped through all the manatee zones to get back. we got to the truck and it started POURING and lighting hit the flagpole at the marina as we were leaving. scaryy fracking shit

[Rockporter9]

I always leave when T storms roll in. Not worth the risk, scary shit. Once lightning our school. I've also driven through a massive super cell, never doing that again.

[sealice aka lone ranger]

last year at the double barrel skim comp there was a nasty storm rolling in during the mens or pro heats and these two people got hit by a bolt by the peir.

[Richard]

ehhh told the chick i had a crush on that she should talk to her ex-bf and some days after that she does and it's all okay and they're back together.
is that idiotic enough?

[AerialSkimmerBrad]

Richard, that was funny story.. well I guess Im not alone. I just really wanted to go out on my new board so I did, the funny thing is when we showed up there was like a wedding being held there so we didnt even know if we should be getting on the beach, but we did. Suck to have a wedding in a thuder storm...

[Derek Makekau]

i rarely worry about it...the beach clears out with a storm and that is definitely worth sticking around. the majority of the places i skim also have extremely large condos within a hundred feet or so of where i am, so i figure if i get struck, someone really wanted me dead.

[727bryon]

i rarely worry about it...the beach clears out with a storm and that is definitely worth sticking around. the majority of the places i skim also have extremely large condos within a hundred feet or so of where i am, so i figure if i get struck, someone really wanted me dead.

Same deal, without the last part. I just pretend I don't hear the thunder/ see the lightning. It doesn't work, it just makes me be stupid. Doesn't sand feel cool on your feet when its raining?

[didj prophet]

when i was out in the wilderness in utah we were camped out on the top of this ridge that was really high above all the canyons, it was basically a peninsula, on one side was a straight drop off cliff, on the other side was a steep hill with a thick forest, and there was only one way into the ridge, we were camped out at the end of it, so one day in the distance out on the cliff side we see a gnarly lightning storm coming our way, bear in mind that we are on the highest ground anywhere near us

so we had to do lightning drills, which means we had to hike a good 100-200 feet down the forest side, then stand on our sleeping mats while wearing our big rubber italian army surplus ponchos, and crouch down with our hands over the back of our necks and our elbows touching our knees so that if we got struck by lightning it would avoid our vital organs and go directly to our sleeping pads

lightning was hitting trees within 50 feet from us during the thick of it, it was one of the most intense and awesome experiences of my life, id be hard pressed to think of something that was more of a rush then that

[Derek Makekau]

that's sick. i went through a week of army ranger training in high school with a couple of my friends...one of the things we did was a hike up a 45 degree slope in the woods. it was only about 2 miles to the top, but because of the slope it took us about 3 hours. and it was entirely in a thunderstorm.

at one point we hit a clearing where we realized we were actually in the clouds. it was incredible...especially with the drill instructors screaming at us and myself and my friend carrying the packs of two of our platoon members who couldn't handle the hike. one of them we actually had to physically push up the last leg of the journey...it was straight out of a billion war movies. but that clearing was insane. they let us stop to hydrate and we walked to the edge of the cliff; we couldn't see the ground, just clouds. if you walked far enough into one you could barely see your feet, it was as if you were just floating.

not as cool as being bombarded by lightning strikes, but it was pretty neat.

[Walruz996]

One sunday I got up and checked the weather cams and beach cams and the waves looked pretty good, some small lines. On the doppler it showed a huge mass of thunder storms coming from the west coast of florida, but there was a pocket in the area that i was going to the beach, so I get to the beach, and its completely empty except for one skimboarder, I skim for a while and more and more skimboarders arrive, the waves start picking up. Next thing I know its the longest waist high waves I've ever ridden. Then after about 20 skimmers are here(were the only guys on the whole beach) its starts to drizzle, the wind picks up and the temperature feels like its dropped 5 degrees. It was like a moment out of The Day After Tommorow. Then in the shorebreak theres this massive manta ray that just hangs out for a while, the day before I heard there were 2 bull sharks in the shore break. Then it starts to pour, but no lighting. The water looked pretty wierd with all the rain, like rippling glass.

[TheRealVortex]

try 20 miles offshore storm closes in all sides. where do you go? cant out run it. we just headed towards the inlet held on for dear life. 6-10 breakers in a 27 foot mako. Alert the coast guards and just pray u make it. Water spouts all around you 6-10 breakers lightning 15 foot out riggers and a ttop. Pretty much a lightning rod. I think i win.

[didj prophet]

this is about as tangental as it gets, but your avatar is fracking awesome vortex, that part where randy's gut hits that lady in the face gets me everytime, i love that show

[can-can]

There was this kid my age who was following me all over the beach, i didnt talk to him or anything..he was just stalking me. And then there was a fisherman who also seemed to be following me up the beach. Anyways, the fisherman caught a really big ray and was struggling with it, and the stalker kid rode out to get a wave and just got clothelined/wrecked/backflip by the fishermans line. THe line didnt give at all and the kid was going as fast as he could and was about to launch off the wave. it must have hurt so bad