Struck by Lightning - we'll see how good USAA/Progressive is

[smokey73]

If a full lightening bolt hit your boat, I would ask, "How big was the hole in your boat?" or in your case, smokey73, "What part of your boat did the lightening arc to ground?.

If you see no "Electrical Arc" evidence, then I would suggest a lightening branch, supercharged your boat.
This is now my guess.
If you see no melted small gauge wiring, as they say "It is not the Voltage that kills you, but the Amperage!", to develop large amp flow, you must flow from lightening to a GROUND. Here is where the "rubber tires" may have reduced your damage.

Supercharging will destroy modern electronics, and concussion impact by lightening ionizing air, will explode stuff like wind vanes.

I would like to hear back about your boats forensic results. Crossing my fingers for you.
Jim...

Jim, that is pretty much what I was thinking. Since the boat was out of the water I could do a very detailed look and found no evidence of an "exit wound" of any kind. There was no melted small gauge wiring and only the electronics were damaged plus everything on the top of the mast was blown away. I am thinking some sort of "side or branch strike" or similar since there was evidence that the VHF antenna was hit by something. The VHF whip was vaporized and there were "char" marks where the metal antenna screws into the base. The only thing I couldn't see was the very bottom of the keel and I wasn't there when they launched the boat. The boat was in the travel lift but the keel was resting on some "wet" wood cribbing so it may have exited from there? I lost a lot of the sailing season but I have all new and significantly upgraded electronics. I really have to thank Peter at Marsh Harbor Boat Yard for working with me on my discussion/negotiation with the Insurance Company.

 

[walt]

I got a call from the boatyard where my boat was getting a bottom paint and was told that it looked like my boat got hit by lightning. Odd thing is that it was in the slings waiting for launch the next morning, with big rubber tires on the lift. I would have thought the tires would have limited the potential for a strike.

The only thing I couldn't see was the very bottom of the keel and I wasn't there when they launched the boat. The boat was in the travel lift but the keel was resting on some "wet" wood cribbing so it may have exited from there?

I would think that the very bottom of the keel (40.5 foot boat in a sling - NOT grounded - over either salt water or ground) would be the very most likely place for the charge to exit..

 

[JamesG161]

There was no melted small gauge wiring and only the electronics were damaged plus everything on the top of the mast was blown away. I am thinking some sort of "side or branch strike" or similar since there was evidence that the VHF antenna was hit by something. The VHF whip was vaporized and there were "char" marks where the metal antenna screws into the base. The only thing I couldn't see was the very bottom of the keel and I wasn't there when they launched the boat.

I love forensics.
I wouldn't worry too much about an "exit wound" since Hunter's bond system includes the mast and at least on my boat, connected to the metal keel.
To develop amp flow you need a current path. No wiring damage, no current path.
Thunder is the noise in a lightening strike.
It is the explosion of ionizing gas.
Ever hear of a Concussion Grenade? Little fragments to hurt , but one hell of a blast force/noise near by.

Last guess...
A small lightening branch supercharged your boat, but in reverse, your negative power grounds became your positive power and poof to low current use electronics (same for antennae).

@smokey73 thanks very much for the kind and clear feed back on your forensics.
Jim...

 

[kloudie1]

When my boat was hit in the slip, about a half mile inland from the brackish lake, on a freshwater bayou, I had no melted wiring but the stern nav light glass bulb had exploded with enough force to embed some small bits in the plastic lens.. My reverse polarity bulb in the switch panel popped with enough force to blow the bulb glass and the little lens across the salon. The case of breaker/switch for the nav lights was split open but it still worked. The mast head anchor light and the steaming light and the bow nav light were unharmed. Really strange..

 

[walt]

While I like the way this sounds..

supercharged your boat, but in reverse

, Dr Ewen Thomson has a better (but more complicated.. because it IS complicated) discussion on how electronics get damaged even without a direct path of current. The explanition is in the link below - go the second page "IV Discussion, A Electronics damage" To sum it up.. its induced overvoltage via magnetic coupling.

http://www.kp44.org/ftp/A_CriticalAssessment_of_the_US_Code_forLightningProtection_of_Boats_IEEE.pdf

 

[bawlmer]

An old friend of mine had his Catalina 28 struck while on the hard in the FL Panhandle. He lost all of his electronics but the strike super heated the oily bilge water and blew every floor panel off and covered every square inch of the interior with oily goo. Another good reason for keeping a dry bilge.

 

[Ron20324]

[QUOTE="kloudie1,...The mast head anchor light and the steaming light and the bow nav light were unharmed. Really strange..[/QUOTE]

Kloudie, were any of the lights that blew - or didn't blow- all the same type? Say, did all LEDs not blow? I don't know if LED bulbs are in a vacuum like incandescent?

 

[JamesG161]

Dr Ewen Thomson has a better (but more complicated.. because it IS complicated) discussion on how electronics get damaged even without a direct path of current.

Whether it was the good Dr.'s magnetic couple theory of his 1989 electronics study or my simplification of low amp reverse flow.... POOOF, SIZZLE, & POP.

Kloudie, were any of the lights that blew - or didn't blow- all the same type? Say, did all LEDs not blow? I don't know if LED bulbs are in a vacuum like incandescent?

That is a great point! LED's would not tolerate reverse amps, but an incandescent could even glow brighter.

My reverse polarity bulb in the switch panel popped with enough force to blow the bulb glass and the little lens across the salon. The case of breaker/switch for the nav lights was split open but it still worked. The mast head anchor light and the steaming light and the bow nav light were unharmed. Really strange..

I would bet you an Abita Springs Amber draught beer that if you looked at your negative wires for the blown lights, they would be amp flow upstream, so to speak, from the Mast Head light.
My guess, @kloudie1 , the blown lights were your "circuit breakers" that really BLEW and protected the negative wire, down stream, bulbs, et al. I doubt they were magnetically coupled from that separation distance apart.

I was told being plugged in prevented my boat from suffering damage to the hull or keel, as the charge had somewhere to go. Don't know if that's correct or not, nor can I find any RELIABLE information either way. Before I moved to Florida I looked up things on lightening there is a lot of stuff but in my opinion non of is definitive.

The standard 30-50amp shore power cord would explode if it tried to carry a boat's strike to earth ground.
Disconnecting your power cords (water or land) during a storm would prevent a nearby earth strike from reverse voltage flow up the shore/land power earth grounds (green and white AC wires).
My guess that is what burnt up the shore power like in @reworb post.

Only anecdotal evidence; but my boat was hit while on a lift raised up about two foot out of the water. It is believed the lightening strike exited the boat though the dock power cord, as all the electrical outlets on the dock were burned out as well as damaging the circuit breaker in the breaker box for my dock and pool.

was an earth strike reversing in the AC shore power.
Hmmmmm...? That means, if you can, disconnect your shore power cords before a storm. They won't help your boat to dissipate a strike very much, but would prevent shore power from being the damage cause from earth or another nearby boat strike.
Jim...

PS: I just discover the @kloudie1 , @reword, or @JamesG161 trick. Simple type "@" in front of members name and you get a list of all members names as a pop down , type ahead list. Pretty cool.

 

[kloudie1]

JamesG, What I found very strange was that the bow light bulb and the stern bulb are on the same breaker switch. Bulbs were all incandescent , I hadn't changed over yet (or they hadn't invented inexpensive LED's yet) .. There was a distinct soot trail on the back of the breaker and buss panel that led from the nav light breaker, which was broken open, to the green wire AC buss bar.. pretty sure a lot got out there; boat was plugged in... at next bottom job, found strange fractal-like patterns under the barrier coat where the keel coat had come off the keel.. VHF aerial was blown apart and VHF was toast.. but the anchor lamp, about 6" away was unharmed.

 

[RoyS]

Sounds unusual to me. Are you sure that the travel lift was not moved with your boat and your mast struck something overhead?

 

[JamesG161]

There was a distinct soot trail on the back of the breaker and buss panel that led from the nav light breaker, which was broken open, to the green wire AC buss bar.. pretty sure a lot got out there; boat was plugged in

Nice job of tracing and finding this soot trail!
It sounds like a ground strike and the lightening came into your boat through the AC grounds or a small branch direct hit, but low Amperage.

If your AC (White and Green) are grounded to the AC buss, AC buss is grounded to the DC ground buss, and all those are grounded to your Bond system(keel) I could invision the path.
I would guess it was a shore/ other boat hit that came into your boat.

buss panel that led from the nav light breaker, which was broken open, to the green wire AC buss bar

A small arcing inside the breaker will ionize the air inside it and pop the housing. Major amps... poof...gone.
This would also pop the FM antenna (normally very low amps), since it is has a weather resistant coating over a copper wire coil or the like.
Jim..

PS: I guess I owe you the Abita Springs Amber beer.

 

[JamesG161]

I have heard of others that had their boats plugged in while at dock/lift that the strike traveled through the shore power cord. I now unplug my power cord when I am not using it to try to be safe. I am just curious if their is anything I could do to reduce the chances of being hit on a lift?

If your boat lift hoist is metal and well grounded(buried), then you might take a very big diameter copper wire and C-clamp one end to your mast or bonding system and the other to the hoist metal. This would give you boat at least the same chances as a public water tower. Never prevention, but enhanced protection.
Jim...

PS: In addition, disconnect the Shore power during a storm and put a lucky horseshoe on board.