I am interested to find out among fellow sailors if anyone's boat was ever struck by lightning and what the subsequent damage was?
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Jeff
Damage
I have seen two boats struck by lightning. One had all of its fuses fried, the other had hundreds if small holes in the hull. Who knows why the difference in damage. Any experts out there?
I have seen two boats struck by lightning. One had all of its fuses fried, the other had hundreds if small holes in the hull. Who knows why the difference in damage. Any experts out there?
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Don
Look in the Archives
This topic has been discussed at great lenght, by experts and novice many times in the past.
This topic has been discussed at great lenght, by experts and novice many times in the past.
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Gary
Lightning Strike
Bob Got hit by lightning in 1991 we were in the marina and our boat was on a mooring. We saw it happen made me feel kind of sick ! When I went out to the boat after the storm all you could smell was burnt electronics. All fuses were burned out and radio, alternator and just about everything electrical was history. We replaced everything with the help of Metropolitan insurance and have had no problems since then, 2 other boats at a nearby marina were also hit with same results.
Bob Got hit by lightning in 1991 we were in the marina and our boat was on a mooring. We saw it happen made me feel kind of sick ! When I went out to the boat after the storm all you could smell was burnt electronics. All fuses were burned out and radio, alternator and just about everything electrical was history. We replaced everything with the help of Metropolitan insurance and have had no problems since then, 2 other boats at a nearby marina were also hit with same results.
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sloopercat
Varies
Mine was hit indirectly, I think. Was not there. Blew up the power cord. Fried the radio, Depth, Stereo, wacked out my little TV until I degaussed it. Also took a small chunk out of the back of the keel. Weird looking spider web patterns in the bottom paint around the thru-hulls. Boats around also had electronic problems. Just looked at a '25 in the marina that was hit direct, someone witnessed it. Blew holes in it and sunk it. Boat next door (owned by the guy that saw the hit) has many electrical maladies. The mast acts like an antenna and sends out a huge RF signal when hit, so they tell me.
Mine was hit indirectly, I think. Was not there. Blew up the power cord. Fried the radio, Depth, Stereo, wacked out my little TV until I degaussed it. Also took a small chunk out of the back of the keel. Weird looking spider web patterns in the bottom paint around the thru-hulls. Boats around also had electronic problems. Just looked at a '25 in the marina that was hit direct, someone witnessed it. Blew holes in it and sunk it. Boat next door (owned by the guy that saw the hit) has many electrical maladies. The mast acts like an antenna and sends out a huge RF signal when hit, so they tell me.
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Lisa Woodburn
This may be a naive question, but...
what does it mean, then, when a sailboat is supposedly "lightening grounded"? Someone told me this was standard in Catalinas.
what does it mean, then, when a sailboat is supposedly "lightening grounded"? Someone told me this was standard in Catalinas.
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Don
My question would be........
the number of boats with thru hulls bonded or the old jumper cable to the shroud trick, vs no grounding at all. My c27 was hit. People on shore said it looked like lightning hit the water about 200ft from the boat. We were motoring at the time. Everything electrical was fried except the autopilot and depth sounder. No damage to the hull or rig.
the number of boats with thru hulls bonded or the old jumper cable to the shroud trick, vs no grounding at all. My c27 was hit. People on shore said it looked like lightning hit the water about 200ft from the boat. We were motoring at the time. Everything electrical was fried except the autopilot and depth sounder. No damage to the hull or rig.
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Bob Fischer
lightning strike
A friends boat was hit last season, it is a 24 foot engineless racer. The lightning went down the shrouds and mast and exitedthe hull in 3 places where it blew 1 inch diameter holes into the fiberglass hull. The holes were pushed in, not out as would be expected, also there were burn marks around the perimeter of the holes. There was no other damage, other than the boat sinking to the gunwales.
A friends boat was hit last season, it is a 24 foot engineless racer. The lightning went down the shrouds and mast and exitedthe hull in 3 places where it blew 1 inch diameter holes into the fiberglass hull. The holes were pushed in, not out as would be expected, also there were burn marks around the perimeter of the holes. There was no other damage, other than the boat sinking to the gunwales.
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