Lightning

[Dune]

How about attaching a jumperl, say 3/0 from the mast to the prop? Could that cause a catastrophic sinking?

[mesquaukee]

You may "weld" your engine. And the batteries may be instantly "charged" which may be hard on the alternator.

[FedeV]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Check out a few previous discussions.
If you still have questions, and you should, don’t hesitate to ask.

➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tion-8705.html

➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...em-3138-3.html

➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...nst-14428.html

➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...fety-1879.html

➥ http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ing-16138.html

and more ➥ lightning ground - Google Search

Thank you, Gord. I can see there are many opinions on the subject. =P

[JusDreaming]

we were close enough to a strike this year that we both got a strong metallic taste in our mouth. But no damage to boat

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by JusDreaming

we were close enough to a strike this year that we both got a strong metallic taste in our mouth. But no damage to boat

That was your blood sucked up by your fear for Thor who was thundering up there with his hammer and throwing those nasty bolts of lightning to you down there! ;-)

But serious, we had the same once incl. our hair rising and hearing and feeling like we were in an elevator going up... I swear we were sober ;-)

ciao!
Nick.

[irwin28]

well...its raining squalls every afternoon here, and dammit, i want to sail. Got turned around today and i dont know how long I could wait to go out. I can always reef down and tuck in behind and island here if needed, but the lightning part is what gets me. I have this huge fear of electricity, and i love my boat and its instruments lol. Wish sometimes I was in south california or somewhere where they dont have this crap. I want to go sooo bad tommorow i cant stand it, but I know it will be like this again.

[Dune]

I don't know about anyone else, but this lightening thread has me wracking my noggen. Sometimes there is just no way to avoid a potential (pun intended) lightening strike. It's not like you can just power up and fly away from a storm. It just happens. The answer then is to find some way to protect your vessel from damage from a strike. Not being an electrical engineer, I do know something about how electricity works. The answer would seem to devise a way to pass current to the water without getting sidetracked through the systems. Although it is possible, it is not simple to attach a copper plate to the hull to act as a anode. But, if a conductor was attached to the mast, which from what I have been reading is the usual point of entrance for electrical current, and attached to some device that could be launched overboard when the need arose. Perhaps a copper sheet or mesh with an attachment point. I could be stowed beneath a mattress and brought out in dire emergency. This is all theory at this time. Am I nuts? Any thoughts? (not on the nuts part, on the theory of protection) I told you, this lightening thing has me spooked. Did you look at the evidence?

[mesquaukee]

One would think a steel boat would offer the best protection. They have a solid direct connection from the mast down to a very large metal to water surface area. When they get hit, electronics still fry in a seemingly random pattern.
There is a huge potential difference (hundreds, possibly thousands of volts from the cabin roof to the sole) and a very large current flow.
I cannot see how clipping something to the mast or shrouds would help. There would be a fair amount of resistance unless the cable was huge. There would also be a bend. From my understanding of high direct current flows the electrons do not like turning corners. But then that is contradicted by pictures we have seen of lightening strikes.
I would even speculate that placing electronics in an oven (Farady cage) may not always work. The potential difference being so very high may overcome the protection offered by a thin walled oven with a door poorly connected to the body. There would be an induced current flow in the skin of the oven and possibly its contents.
Do the best you can. Then try to relax when a storm approaches as you have done everything you could.

[Dune]

OK, I will do the best I can to avoid getting in the way of a lightening bolt, and then take the Quaalude approach.

[irwin28]

well i went out today...and guess what...i was heading back and went into a lightning storm. I prayed and prayed and was scared out of my mind...it was a bad one too...but i made it out and so did "malfunction". I tried to hang around the fleeing shrimp trawlers to give the lightning other options hehe. It only lasted an hour but was a long one

[anotherT34C]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gl...ng_strikes.png

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gl..._Frequency.jpg





Suprising to me was the apparent frequency of lightning strikes off the Carolinas' coasts and the Gulf of Mexico. Oil rigs playing a part?

[zeehag]

i just arrived back from fla to louisianna during many lightning storms in th efort myers to appalachacola area---we went thru at least 4 of them and were not hit...we were in the middle of these frontal squalls, all very large and full of lightning --cloud to ground type as well as cloud to cloud. there is no rhyme nor reason to lightning---the flashes and bolts were quite frequent and we had no hit. no taste of metal nor hairs on end. we were fortunate. i figger the sea gods werent so angry with us that we needed such a reminder of our sins lol and our guardian angels were most alert to protecting us lol....whatever the reason, we WERE the ONLY lightning rod on the sea and were most nervous to say the least. we were not hit nor even come close despite the proximity of the lightning......we havent any alleged protection either---but we did have the ditch bag ready and kat on leash ready for whatever was to come at us..is rather disconcerting moving from inside one storm to inside another--was a real true bitch......

[stevensc]

I have often heard that central Florida gets the most lightining strikes in the US, but look at central Africa, incredible.
Steve