Hi, I read this article from BoatUS about Lightning protection. I have been out on the water and stuck in a storm, and it was rather frightening, espeically as the lightning got closer and closer. All of a sudden your 25 foot mast becomes a big attraction for some lightening and just screams to be hit. Reading this article, I was wondering if anyone does anythign to protect their boats and most importantly themselves from a lightning strike when out sailing. I have a Catalina 22 and am trying to think of ways to prevent my boat from getting struck and if it were to get struck how of minimize damage. Also, what techniques do you do if you are on the water, far from land, and have to ride out the lightning storm? The below link discusses this topic. http://www.boatus.com/seaworthy/swlightning.asp
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lightning perspectives
Mike, I've dealt with your concern and experienced a near strike 10 miles or so from land. Though I have not read the article you pointed out, some are prone towards the emotional side though I think Boat US normally doesn't follow the vein of some who are trying to sell stuff. Look at the big picture, don't lose perspective. Small sailboats with outboards also have some differences from those with inboards in relationship to lightning. I've offered another perspective that you might find interesting. See the link.
Mike, I've dealt with your concern and experienced a near strike 10 miles or so from land. Though I have not read the article you pointed out, some are prone towards the emotional side though I think Boat US normally doesn't follow the vein of some who are trying to sell stuff. Look at the big picture, don't lose perspective. Small sailboats with outboards also have some differences from those with inboards in relationship to lightning. I've offered another perspective that you might find interesting. See the link.
Lightning
Mike: From what I've read, lightning and lightning protection on a boat like a C22 is rather unpredictable. Fremont Lake where I sail does have lot's of lightning action in the summer. What I do when it starts booming in the vicinity, is to be sure noone is close to anything metal, i.e. like the shrouds or mast/boom. Hopefully if we are hit, the charge will go thru the metal, and not the crew. And I have a metal cable that I strap to the lower part of the mast and drop the end overboard when it looks threatening (also do this when I leave the boat unattended at the dock). And if we have the advance time, I try to sail away from thunderheads or even leave the boat at the dock while we're in the car or cabin. So far, I've heard of noone ever getting hit in a C22, so the chances must be slim. Dick
Mike: From what I've read, lightning and lightning protection on a boat like a C22 is rather unpredictable. Fremont Lake where I sail does have lot's of lightning action in the summer. What I do when it starts booming in the vicinity, is to be sure noone is close to anything metal, i.e. like the shrouds or mast/boom. Hopefully if we are hit, the charge will go thru the metal, and not the crew. And I have a metal cable that I strap to the lower part of the mast and drop the end overboard when it looks threatening (also do this when I leave the boat unattended at the dock). And if we have the advance time, I try to sail away from thunderheads or even leave the boat at the dock while we're in the car or cabin. So far, I've heard of noone ever getting hit in a C22, so the chances must be slim. Dick
Antenna Damage
Mike, Arlyn, and Dick: Please take a look at the photo that I attached. This shows my VHF antenna that I removed from my C-22 at the end of last summer. The tip used to have a little white plastic cap on it, and you can see from the inset photo, that the tip was damaged. The stainless steel wire also looks like it was melted a little. I'm familiar with machining processes, and it didn't get this way from any machining process, it almost has a little ball on the tip, like it may have melted. The base of the antenna had a vinyl boot covering it. You can see that the boot is missing, and that the dielectric was blown apart. I think I know when this happened. We were on the boat and it was raining like crazy. I was in the cockpit with my older son, and my wife and my younger son were in the cabin. They said that they heard a spark inside the boat. Lightning was striking nearby, and the thunder was very loud. We were anchored in Middle River. As Dick said, I always tell everyone not to sit near the shrouds. This isn't the first time that we heard a spark (sound) inside our boat during a thunderstorm. (We were anchored the other times too). Anyhow, a few weeks after this storm, we were sailing our boat just before pulling it out of the water before Hurricane Isabel. I tried to get a weather report on the VHF, and it didn't work. I still don't know if the radio survived. I doubt that it did. I have a handheld radio that I plan on using next summer. Has anyone ever seen this type of damage before? It doesn't really bother me. VHF radios are cheap. No one was hurt, and the boat was undamaged. Mike, thanks for asking the question. I have wanted to take a photo of the antenna and post it to see what others have to say about it. Aldo
Mike, Arlyn, and Dick: Please take a look at the photo that I attached. This shows my VHF antenna that I removed from my C-22 at the end of last summer. The tip used to have a little white plastic cap on it, and you can see from the inset photo, that the tip was damaged. The stainless steel wire also looks like it was melted a little. I'm familiar with machining processes, and it didn't get this way from any machining process, it almost has a little ball on the tip, like it may have melted. The base of the antenna had a vinyl boot covering it. You can see that the boot is missing, and that the dielectric was blown apart. I think I know when this happened. We were on the boat and it was raining like crazy. I was in the cockpit with my older son, and my wife and my younger son were in the cabin. They said that they heard a spark inside the boat. Lightning was striking nearby, and the thunder was very loud. We were anchored in Middle River. As Dick said, I always tell everyone not to sit near the shrouds. This isn't the first time that we heard a spark (sound) inside our boat during a thunderstorm. (We were anchored the other times too). Anyhow, a few weeks after this storm, we were sailing our boat just before pulling it out of the water before Hurricane Isabel. I tried to get a weather report on the VHF, and it didn't work. I still don't know if the radio survived. I doubt that it did. I have a handheld radio that I plan on using next summer. Has anyone ever seen this type of damage before? It doesn't really bother me. VHF radios are cheap. No one was hurt, and the boat was undamaged. Mike, thanks for asking the question. I have wanted to take a photo of the antenna and post it to see what others have to say about it. Aldo
Photo of Antenna Damage again (3)
It happened again. The photo that I uploaded disappeared. It was there last night, trust me. I'll upload it again. Aldo
It happened again. The photo that I uploaded disappeared. It was there last night, trust me. I'll upload it again. Aldo
Attachments
Survey
Would you be kind enough to help with a survey and answer 10 questions about the hit you took?
Would you be kind enough to help with a survey and answer 10 questions about the hit you took?
Been there, done that...burnt the T-shirt
We were sailing in a nasty little squall when we took a direct hit a few years ago on a buddy's 37' Sabre. I was at the helm, all the rest were below. They reported hearing a loud boom and hair raising on their arms. I do not recall the boom being particularly loud but there was a brilliant white flash reflected off the deck. It was blowing the rain horizontally into my face (wind instrument recorded 48 knots max before we lost it). I had the brim of my FWG pulled down and keeping my head low, so didn't see the strike. I first realized we had been hit when I saw the molten metal from the vaporized antenna, windex and anemometer splashing on the deck. My first reaction was to jerk my hands from the wheel...my first coherent thought was "Too late for that, Stupid." The only damage we suffered was to the masthead sensors and to the Seatalk capability of the instruments, though they worked fine independently. BoatUs paid for a hull survey and haul out and all new instruments/AP since the communication feature couldn't be repaired (less the deductible, of course). No hassle there. P.S. I have previously filled out Arlyn's survey (or one just like it).
We were sailing in a nasty little squall when we took a direct hit a few years ago on a buddy's 37' Sabre. I was at the helm, all the rest were below. They reported hearing a loud boom and hair raising on their arms. I do not recall the boom being particularly loud but there was a brilliant white flash reflected off the deck. It was blowing the rain horizontally into my face (wind instrument recorded 48 knots max before we lost it). I had the brim of my FWG pulled down and keeping my head low, so didn't see the strike. I first realized we had been hit when I saw the molten metal from the vaporized antenna, windex and anemometer splashing on the deck. My first reaction was to jerk my hands from the wheel...my first coherent thought was "Too late for that, Stupid." The only damage we suffered was to the masthead sensors and to the Seatalk capability of the instruments, though they worked fine independently. BoatUs paid for a hull survey and haul out and all new instruments/AP since the communication feature couldn't be repaired (less the deductible, of course). No hassle there. P.S. I have previously filled out Arlyn's survey (or one just like it).
Second Hand Lightning Report
Arlyn: I have never been hit by lightning, but I talked to some folks who had a 28 foot Catalina on a trailer in Ogden, UT who had. The boat was docked at the time of the hit, at the State Marina at Bear Lake near the Id/UT border. When the owner went to sail, he found his boat very low in the water. Apparently lightning had come down (or does it go up?) through the mast and shrouds then entered the lake thru the fiberglass hull, mostly around the keel. He said it had 26 holes in it from the blast, so the boat went down in the shallow water. Noone was around when this happened so after some major repair, all turned out OK.
Arlyn: I have never been hit by lightning, but I talked to some folks who had a 28 foot Catalina on a trailer in Ogden, UT who had. The boat was docked at the time of the hit, at the State Marina at Bear Lake near the Id/UT border. When the owner went to sail, he found his boat very low in the water. Apparently lightning had come down (or does it go up?) through the mast and shrouds then entered the lake thru the fiberglass hull, mostly around the keel. He said it had 26 holes in it from the blast, so the boat went down in the shallow water. Noone was around when this happened so after some major repair, all turned out OK.
Help me out here
I sail in an area that has the highest incidence of eletrical storms of anywhere in Southern Ontario, consenquently I am concerned whether I am out on the water of sitting at dock. I have seen boats with these rod like structures at the top of the mast with what looks like a wire brush on the top. Is this some sort of disapating unit, does anyone outthere know what I am talking about. Generally if I see something coming I will head to shore quickly, but there isn't always time. Any advice would be useful. JS
I sail in an area that has the highest incidence of eletrical storms of anywhere in Southern Ontario, consenquently I am concerned whether I am out on the water of sitting at dock. I have seen boats with these rod like structures at the top of the mast with what looks like a wire brush on the top. Is this some sort of disapating unit, does anyone outthere know what I am talking about. Generally if I see something coming I will head to shore quickly, but there isn't always time. Any advice would be useful. JS
lightning thoughts
JS, the device you mention is an ion dissipator and if your boat has a grounded mast... they are designed to bleed off the voltage buildup and reduce the chances that your mast will send up a streamer burning an ion trail and creating a path for a strike. Remember, most inboard boats will have a grounded mast whether it has a lightning protection system installed or not but as this is a small boat forum, if you have an outboard, chances are that your mast is not grounded unless your hooked up to shore power. If ungrounded, the voltage level at the masthead or top mounted antenna will enjoy a similar value as if the ion brush were dissipating it on a grounded mast. Avoiding a voltage buildup and single point dispersion are controversial and arguable issues with no jury in yet. And... mother nature seems to cast her votes where she will and like most female gender...unpredictably. My personaly thinking is... if it isn't grounded... either don't ground it or if you do, do so with an arrestor which doesn't actually ground but provides a short path for it to jump and be led to ground if it does hit. If its grounded... ground it well or at least the best than can be done in fresh water... which is probably never good enough to prevent all damage... and use the ion brush and put the vhf antenna on the stern pulpit.
JS, the device you mention is an ion dissipator and if your boat has a grounded mast... they are designed to bleed off the voltage buildup and reduce the chances that your mast will send up a streamer burning an ion trail and creating a path for a strike. Remember, most inboard boats will have a grounded mast whether it has a lightning protection system installed or not but as this is a small boat forum, if you have an outboard, chances are that your mast is not grounded unless your hooked up to shore power. If ungrounded, the voltage level at the masthead or top mounted antenna will enjoy a similar value as if the ion brush were dissipating it on a grounded mast. Avoiding a voltage buildup and single point dispersion are controversial and arguable issues with no jury in yet. And... mother nature seems to cast her votes where she will and like most female gender...unpredictably. My personaly thinking is... if it isn't grounded... either don't ground it or if you do, do so with an arrestor which doesn't actually ground but provides a short path for it to jump and be led to ground if it does hit. If its grounded... ground it well or at least the best than can be done in fresh water... which is probably never good enough to prevent all damage... and use the ion brush and put the vhf antenna on the stern pulpit.
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