Lightning

[Ozzie]

There ya go, nothing like fresh eyes on the subject. I think you are probably right Peter. I was thinking of the bottom of the boat being “earthed “ but of course the fg would be an insulator. This is a subject that has endless articles written. I hope I never experience a strike. Spritzig has been out on the block in some horrific weather and no issues. I must ask the locals if anyone else has been hit.

[Peter T]

Hi Ozzie, I think I put up a previous post on here somewhere regarding a Hood that sunk at Port Dalrymple many years ago. The story goes that lightning hit the mast, it zapped all the electric on board and found its path of least resistance through the depth sounder sender unit which was mounted in the bottom of the hull and the lightning exited the boat through that sender unit blowing a hole in the hull at that point sinking the boat. I remember the top of the mast sticking out of the water at low tide for quite a while until the boat was re floated.
Obviously a very nasty experience for the owner
Cheers

[Ozzie]

Thought this was worth a bump up. Especially considering the crepe weather we are having. Not that I’m out sailing though . Anyway interesting link on Practical Boat Owner as usual.

https://forums.ybw.com/threads/lightnin ... on.609129/

This is fairly typical of lightening discussions as there is never a definitive answer , BUT, this post caught my interest about half way down the page. If there is such a thing as a lightening expert, this dude probably qualifies.

“A few years back there was a lightning expert on the 59⁰N podcast. He had previously been in charge of issuing 'go, no-go' for shuttle launches whilst flying around Florida in a Learjet.

His take was that it was a good idea to fit a spiky brush to the top of the mast, and to drift with the wind. The idea is that you accumulate a sheath of ionised particles which makes a protective barrier around your boat. The lightning will travel through the sheath rather than your own boat.

It could be voodoo but I did think the guy's credentials were pretty solid.”

[Andrew]

Looks like the "lightning master" company knows their trade well, and protect many industrial or private structures.

For the Investigator, Ian's post about anchor chain over the stainless bow roller attached to the stainless forestay sounds good (just remember to unhank and stow the jib below before T- storm, or it might become toast)

If an I563 was anchored in a calm spot, with allot of high masts, trees etc around, and a storm was forecast to pass over, it might be good to drop the mast. A low profile might be safer.? Or if near the boat ramp, just haul her out quick and go home.

These day i have several "lightning apps" on mobile phone, they give ample warning and which direction the storm are travelling. They may help avoid it.

Years ago, I was nearly struck by lightning twice when up in PNG. One strike was at camp. The office hut had chicken mesh underneath the thatch roof and bamboo walls, with a ground peg. (a faraday cage) I was standing on the this huts veranda when i witnessed first hand a huge lighning bolt strike about 15m away with a huge boom! It hit the satellite dish installation, and a secondary bolt also shot out upward at 30 degree angle from the dishes "probe" as well! Phew! Amazingly there was little damage.

The second time was out in the jungle, it poured rain and lightning. We retrated off the ridgeline to halfway down a gully, then squatted down low in the mud under a black pvc plastic tarp. scary.