Mast Ground to Water

[CHARLIE]

We got caught in a sudden severe thunderstorm and afterwards we were talking about lightening strikes and what would happen. Does anyone know if the mast of a C22 is grounded to water or to the swing keel and if so,how? What else should we be concerned with?

 

[Jim Hanebury]

Mast Grounding

Charlie;There was an extensive discussion of this topic on another boat site for Columbias which I used to own. As far as I know the Mast is not grounded to anything. The stock solution was to get off the water in a storm or else take a set of jumper cables and clip one end to the lower shrouds and drop the other in the water. I think that Pratical Salior also cover this a while ago but am unsure. Hope someone else has a better idea.Jim HanbeuryC-22 8084 Laura B

 

[Tom]

Grounding the Mast

Charlie: Get a heavy gauge copper wire, about the same size as a car battery jumper cable. Secure one end inside the cabin to one of the bolts that secures the mast step. Run the wire down and connect to the bolt that secures the keel. You must have a large area of metal to dissipate the electrical charge into the water and the keel does this just fine. Hanging a wire off the side will not do the trick. That's why your house is grounded to an 8 foot piece of metal driven into the ground. However the best advice is to get off the water when ever a storm comes up.

 

[Rich Obrosky]

Electricity takes the least restrictive route

You might want to forget about grounding