Grounding rod on the hard

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NYSail

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,181
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
My boat was pulled and this will be my first year with mast up. Boat next to me has copper tubing attached to his chain plate and connected this to a copper grounding rod he pounded into the ground. Never seen this before and wonder if this will help anything if he is struck. I figure the best I could do would be unhook all instruments.

Thanks!
 
DougM

DougM

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Jul 24, 2005
2,242
Beneteau 323 Manistee, MI
My question is why? It's winter (almost) in the north and lightning is highly unlikely. Power should be disconnected , both 12 v and AC. If the keel sits on the ground there is already a partial ground at least. Is someone living aboard while the boat is on the hard, and trying to be extra cautious?
 
Don S/V ILLusion

Don S/V ILLusion

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Sep 25, 2008
7,693
Alden 50 Sarasota, Florida
Never seen anyone do that here in lightning city. If for electrical grounding, it's redundant
 
NYSail

NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,181
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
I agree..... Looks crazy. Turns out he was struck a beginning of season. Paranoid.

image-1899288975.jpg
 
Maine Sail

Maine Sail

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Feb 6, 1998
11,759
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
A friend of mine had his boat hit on the hard. The boat was decoupled from Earth but the lightning didn't care. It hit is mast came down through the keel, jumped the 12" air gap distance from the keel to the asphalt and burned a hole on the asphalt.. If lightning wants your boat, it gets it......;)
 
sailcruiser

sailcruiser

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Sep 6, 2011
435
We were required to do this where we store up until recently. I found it a bit silly but complied. I guess enough people commented on the requirement to do some research on past claims from being struck in our area. There were zero reported so we are free not to pound copper this year.
SC
 
Gunni

Gunni

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Mar 16, 2010
5,937
Beneteau 411 Oceanis Annapolis
"the best you could do" would be to purchase your boat insurance from a respected broker and marine insurer with agreed value coverage and a complete documentation of you boat's electrics and instrumentation. A sailing buddy lost his gear to a bounced strike off of another guy's mast. He may have been a better ground path than the primary hit.
 
Chris Patterson

Chris Patterson

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Oct 17, 2011
2,809
Ericson 29 Southport..
Maine Sail said:
A friend of mine had his boat hit on the hard. The boat was decoupled from Earth but the lightning didn't care. It hit is mast came down through the keel, jumped the 12" air gap distance from the keel to the asphalt and burned a hole on the asphalt.. If lightning wants your boat, it gets it......;)
Click to expand
Yepper. Lightning has just travelled 10 miles through the atmosphere in basically a micro-second, that twelve inches ain't gonna slow it down much.

People actually sit in their cars thinking the rubber tires are insulating them from earth, and they think that five inches of rubber is going to help? Right...

It's just a Faraday principle.

(And if you're putting in ground rods, pound 'em in deep. 6 or 8 inches is a waste of time)..
 
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