Lightning Strikes, How do sailboats deal with it?

[Ross]

Hugh, Short answer, they don't have conflicting

weather systems like we have over most of the rest of the country. When cold front meets warm front you get a lot of energy being released and converted into towering clouds and strong winds and rain and sometimes lightning. Beyond that simple answer do a search at Scientific American or Smithsonian Magazine.

 

[Leviosa]

we were struck 3 years ago

We were on the boat at the time at anchor, (Worton Creek) It was early morn and I had just shut off the engine for a charge of the batteries, A front had blown in,,,we knew it was going to rain and have high winds as we listened to the morning Coast Guard report,,,however they didnt say anything about lightning.We have a 65' stick, in an anchorage with maybe 30 boats of all sizes,,,we were not the tallest. The kids and wife were down below, I was just about to go down myself, I had 1 foot down the compainionway and looking at my son who was right next to the keel steped mast,,,and BAAAAM!,,,the flash behind me and it sounded rigt next to my neck,,,was so bright, I had lost my vision,,,like flash bulb in the eye,,,,and I was facing the deck!.....the sound gave me a high pitch beeeep in my right ear.....My wife and kids saw sparks fly, sparkle down the mast!.....the boat did just what it was designed to....the charge went down the mast,,,to the keel and out into the water......we lost most of our electronics, but not all,,,its weird how it would fry some things but not others...even on the same circuit,,,,like it fried our stereo but not the VHF,,,,Fried the alternator, depth, wind, knot, refrig, a few fans,,,,melted the jackets on some wires,,,,,The alternator was actually SMOKING!,,,,,but no fires,,,,,Checked all the thru hulls,,,everything and everyone was basicly ok,,,,funny thing is we were having dinner with another boat the night before and we were talking about lightning strikes,,,,,I Dont talk about them any more!.....Ive heard if you have a micro wave and you hear of a storm approaching, you can disconnect as much electronics you can and place them in the protected microwave box.We sailed home that morning sailed into the slip...that was fun!,,,,,then called the insurance company,,,they instigated an immediate haul out with the marina next door....checked the bottom and rigging....all well,The wind instrument was melted,,and there was a brown spot about a nickle in diameter on the bottom paint, next to the keel....we are guessing the exit spot.....everyone I spoke with from the surveyor to the yard guys agreed that we were hit by a finger bolt and NOT a main strike,,,thank God!.....3 years latter the kids are still nervous when a storm kicks up, quite frankly so am I.Ive looked into Lightning rod dissipitators,,,the fuzzy rods on masts,,,and have heard they can actually atract lightning....and i looked into Bonding all of our thru hulls with thick copper coil,,,,,but havent done anything,,,,I guess,,, what ever the manufactuer did,,,,it worked.....We talked of selling the boat after,,,,but I guess I get flash backs from the that old Robin Williams movie,,,"The world according to Garp"...when the airplane crashes into the house they are about to buy....its been pre disastered!....Keeping my fingers crossed and my head down low.Rob

 

[Ross]

There have ben two boats that made their

own lightning up on the Bush River here. There is a high voltage powerline across the river at some distance from the railroad bridge. On separate occassions a couple of years apart a boat has made contact with the power line. In each event they were burned to the waterline. No deaths in either case.

 

[tom]

Odds of a Strike in the Sailboat's favor

My boat is 27 years old and never been struck by lightning. When you think about it sitting in the water almost 24 X 7 for 27 years the odds look pretty good. It can and does happen but infequently. I happened to be looking at a church when it's chimney was struck. The chimney exploded throwing bricks 50-75'. I also saw a tree get struck and it too exploded. Scared the crap out of me. I was riding a motorcycle and a sudden downpour caught me on a mountain top. It was raining and hailing so much that I couldn't see the logging road so I stopped and took shelter under a tree. When I saw a nearby tree get struck it scared me so much I got back on my motorcycle and rode too fast down the mountain.  I've been caught out in a lake or bay a few times with a thunderstorm and lightening striking all around. Very scarey. I put everyone down below and try to stay away from metalic objects like the backstay. But if the odds fail me I know that I'll be toast. The mast looks high from the cockpit but from the storm's perspective at 30,000' a 50' mast is pretty short

 

[Dan]

An article describing a lightening experience

Here's a published account of one man's experience. Obviously he survived to tell the tale!

 

[Dick of Sylvan]

Play, but play safely

Bruce: On rare occastions, trailer boats do get struck with lightning on fresh water lakes. The only one I've seen personally was docked with noone aboard at the time. It sunk there because of 19 small holes that the lightning caused. Best to get out of your boat and into your auto before lightning gets too close. If you cannot, keep everyone from touching mast, booms, shrouds, and other metals until storm passes. One dilemma we have to face in trailer boats is that thunderstorms can bring knockdown winds so its good to have reefing and small jibs on well before a storm comes. But by the time you can see the storm coming over a ridge in our mountain lakes, it is already within lightning strike range and changing sails and reefing invariably causes one to grab the mast or boom. Hopefully your Indiana topography is more forgiving.I usually drop a cable attached to the mast overboad when lightning is around, though some things I've read suggest that fiberlass hulls insulate enough that they very rarely "attract" lightning and I could be making my odds worse. I've been in several strong storms with lots of lightning, all of which discharged cloud-to-cloud or cloud-to-earth, and none cloud-to-lake. If I had a fixed keel boat I'd most likely be sure it does ground the mast to the keel, but that's not very practical in my trailer sailer. Annway I do feel safer in my fiberglass boat than I would in an aluminum power boat even though mine has a mast. If struck, hopefully the shrouds and stays will shield any bodies whereas the powerboaters/rowboaters are more exposed.  RK