It was a dark, but clear
night. A friend invited me to go
boating with him. He had never gone boating before, and neither had I. He had a 16 foot speedboat with a 200HP
engine on it. Pretty
impressive. Anyway, we launched at a dark
boat ramp on
Treasure Island, and ventured out into
Biscayne Bay. Made our way to the
Intercoastal Waterway and headed North for a bit. Really nice night... No bad
weather in sight....
A thunderstorm came in. Faster than either of us thought possible. Given that neither of us had previous boating experience, we were rather frightened. The rain was cold. Lightning was striking the towering condominums on either side of the waterway. We sped back in the direction of the boat ramp, hearts pounding. We had no idea if we would get struck by lightning. The rough waters made the boat ride very roughly. We made it back safely, thank goodness...
Very stupid of both of us to not be prepared. However, some of the best lessons in life are learned the hard way. Applying the lessons learned (always check weather reports, don't go out at night without a high-power searchlight, don't go out at night without knowing the waters well) to our later trips made them much more enjoyable experiences.
Boating can be dangerous. Always be prepared.