system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Where am I safer during a thunderstorm with lightning: NEAR the water (shore), IN the water (swimming) or ON the water (boat)?
gpt
There's no doubt that being IN the water is very dangerous because water (not pure water) is an electrical conductor. The energy of lightning strike dissipates within several metres and being in that area can be lethal. One way to survive is to dive but you probably won't be able to hold your breath long enough. 

Being on the shore can be as dangerous because lightnings strike land more often than water and usually there are no high things on shores that lightning can strike. What is more, the step voltage on land can have longer ranges so lightning can kill you within dozens of metres.

Boat is definitely the safest place to be during a thunderstorm (remember that lightnings strike water less often than land and you are not IN water) but it would be safer to have some metal around you (but do not touch it).