miketsp
Contributor
Tom Smedley:Possibly true but it doesn't explain that when there is lightening and you are immersed you don't feel the electric tingle. However, when you are touching an object such as a boat you definitely feel an electrical shock. When your body is immersed and not touching a ground to complete a circuit it is the same as a bird sitting on an electric wire.
Remember that even when there is no flash a current flow may be taking place. If the boat is properly bonded and there is some highest placed metallic point source, a significant ionic interchange may be taking place with a charged atmosphere. Depending on your distance from the earthing plate there will be potential difference. If you are wet you will feel even very small voltage differences.
As for not feeling it submerged, I remember reading several articles where submerged divers felt progressively worse shocks as they neared the surface during their deco stops.