I sail on Lake Petenwell in East Central Wisconsin where I was proud to be the first owner of an O'Day 272 in the Barnum Bay Marina. A couple years later there were five of us among the 30 or so sailboats, along with a like number of power boats. At that time 272's were the largest on the lake. One late summer afternoon a typical short thunder bumper passed through. At the dock, I buttoned up, threw something in the CD, popped a chilly and 15 minutes later the marina was back to sunshine and breezes.
The next afternoon a fellow 272 owner came down for a sail, slid the hatch open and said "Whhat the ***&&&**!". A lightning strike that no one saw or heard the previous afternoon had hit his mast, traveled the path of least resistance through the cabin and exited. The mast is grounded though the keel, but the charge chose the electronics and blew a hole in the hull to exit by way of the metal frame of the floating dock. On it's way it melted all the wiring and set fire to all the plastic and insulation. The cabin looked like the inside of a trash burner! The fire apparently self-extinguished for lack of oxygen. The boat did not have a solar vent fan!! Had the fire found any oxygen source the results could have been catastrophic for the marina. There were four more 272's and a Montego 25, all tall masts, within a 30 yd radius.
My point is, to the best of my knowledge, it was the first and only lightning-boat strike in the history of the lake, and regardless of precautions, lightning is a monumental and unpredictable force of nature.
I'm still docked at the same marina, sailing the same water on our second 272.
Think good thoughts. Today is the first day of Spring!
