Well after being caught in a severe lightning storm and watching other boats getting hit today i feel lucky to have made it through that damn storm. We (a crew of three and a dog) were sailing on the Neuse today just about two miles out from the Oriental Harbor and out of nowhere came a very intense storm. I checked the forecast as usual and decided that it would be ok for an afternoon sail. After we had been out for about 30 mins we saw the storm coming and it was too late to turn back to Oriental so we decided to make a run for the far side which was closer than trying to make it home. At this point the lightning is everywhere and we are scared out of our minds... we decided that we needed to get off our boat and that we would be safer on the sandy riverside. I took the boat as close to shore as possible with a 2 foot draft (we're sailing an O'Day 22,) dropped two anchors and believe it or not we swam about 30 feet to shore. We found the best place possible and layed down on the sand and waited for the storm to pass. This lasted at least thirty minutes. While we we're on shore we witnessed a huge bolt strike a large sailboats mast... it lit up light a lightbulb! About two minutes later the same boat was struck a second time. THAT was very scarey to observe and we we're thankful that it was not us. I have no idea if those people are ok or not... we we're too concerned with our own safety. I can honestly say that was the most scared i've ever been in my life! Well if you've made it to the end of my post, I guess what i want/need to know is what is the best procedure to follow when you're stuck in this situation. Did we do the right thing by getting off the boat? Can sailboats withstand direct hits from lightning and the crew still be relatively safe? After today i think i will be very paranoid to go out if there are clouds in the sky. Everything looked fine and then WHAM! out of nowhere Lightning! I think the other boaters where caught off gaurd as well... we were on the leading edge of the storm and there were people stuck right in the middle of it. A VERY close call for sure!