| Struck by lightning #141683 05/01/08 08:39 AM 05/01/08 08:39 AM | Anonymous
Unregistered
| Anonymous
Unregistered | I am just curious how many people have seen, been on a boat or have creditable reports of sailboats being struck by lightning?
I live in the lightning capital (the Tampa area) and have been caught in several storms, heard my share of thunder and been nervous about it, but don’t know of anyone ever actually struck.
The 72 year old boat repair guy (who still sails often) claims he only knows of 1 instance - a girl’s sunfish was struck. She was in it... it blew holes in the hulls but she was fine (minus 1 pair of panties). | | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: ]
#141684 05/01/08 08:49 AM 05/01/08 08:49 AM |
Joined: Aug 2007 Posts: 342 Indianapolis, IN - Midwest USA... IndyWave
enthusiast
|
enthusiast
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 342 Indianapolis, IN - Midwest USA... | My old boss kept his boat in a marina north of Chicago, and the sailboat next to his got struck. It jumped from the mast base, through the cabin, and blew a hole in the hull directly below it, sinking the boat. It made no sense because the marina was full of sailboats, and the one struck was not the tallest.
My personal experience was not a direct strike, but after getting capsized by a squall in my Interlake, I was holding onto the boom while bailing, when lightning stuck nearby. The mast acted like an antenna; and I felt the charge go from the boom, through my arm and body, down to my feet in the water. I wasn't hurt, but I decided I could wait till the storm passed to bail the boat!
What - Me Worry?
2006 Hobie Wave 7358 "Ish Kabibble"
| | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: wildtsail]
#141688 05/01/08 04:14 PM 05/01/08 04:14 PM | Anonymous
Unregistered
| Anonymous
Unregistered | And That day was very mild for this area... that was a few bolts... we can have literally 1000's of bolts per hour in the area on a bad day... and we pretty much can count on thunder storms every afternoon... somewhere in the area..
The thing that bothers me about that is that people around here get struck by lightning from storm clouds up to 20 miles away... you can be in the sun, not a raindrop around and still get whacked!... that being said... the drive to the beach is the most dangerous part of the day. | | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: wildtsail]
#141689 05/01/08 04:43 PM 05/01/08 04:43 PM |
Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 757 japan erice
old hand
|
old hand
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 757 japan | my limited understanding is that with lightning you really don't want to be the "spark gap" that gets bridged when the massive pulse comes through
i can see where an alloy mast makes a perfect antenna for the charge cloud to gather around and if it gets struck that the flow down to a glass hull would try to limit the flow and get carbonized in the process, sinking a glass monohull.
a wooden mast probably wouldn't have the same problem. be interesting to know if that sunfish was an oldy with wooden mast and board or a more modern sailfish? type with glass hull and alloy mast
on a cat like my old nacra there would be fireworks when the pulse came down the mast and met the nylon ball pivot, but from there it would streak out along the main beam and then discharge through 2 hulls, might be more sparks at the beam straps depending on size of the strike...
on my 5.2 the charge would also flow back to the rear beam via the mid-tramp pole so you probably wouldn't want to be sitting on or touching the rear beam when it came through (or holding the rigging) but the more paths to carry the charge the less the damage i think
but for most beachcats with rotating masts i'd say there'd be a big bang from the mast base, and maybe some molten nylon flying about, but as long as you were on the tramp/hull you might get a shock but not the massive burns that kill lightning victims
airliners get struck by lightning all the time but because the charge can't conduct anywhere they rarely notice anything but the bad weather. on inspection you can find tiny fused pits around the skin rivets where a bit of corrosion put up a fight against the flow and got fused as a result
final bit from the lightning useless knowledge pool
if walking in an area with a high chance of a lightning strike try to keep your arms and legs close to your sides so any plasma pulse flows around the body and smokes your clothes off. you really don't want it flowing between your legs and going between your arms and chest as the resulting constriction is likely to increase the burns at the most vulnerable parts of the body:o)
eric e 1982 nacra 5.2 - 2158 2009 weta tri - 294
| | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: ]
#141690 05/01/08 09:39 PM 05/01/08 09:39 PM |
Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 5,582 “an island in the Pacifi... hobie1616
Carpal Tunnel
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 5,582 “an island in the Pacifi... | (minus 1 pair of panties). Was that caused by the lightning or post strike high speed evacuation of the lower bowel? US Sail Level 2 Instructor US Sail Level 3 Coach | | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: hobie1616]
#141691 05/02/08 08:17 AM 05/02/08 08:17 AM | Anonymous
Unregistered
| Anonymous
Unregistered | | | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: ]
#141693 05/02/08 10:30 AM 05/02/08 10:30 AM |
Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 75 Clearwater, FL stevefisherkeller
journeyman
|
journeyman
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 75 Clearwater, FL | I have never heard fo an example of a cat being hit by lightening while on the water. All of the strikes were when the boat was on the beach or in storage. I admit to running for the beach and wanting to get off the boat, but maybe its better to sit tight on the water if you can't get to the beach and far away from the boat.
Steve Fisherkeller P19MX
| | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: hrtsailor]
#141694 05/02/08 10:55 AM 05/02/08 10:55 AM |
Joined: Oct 2002 Posts: 606 Maryland Kris Hathaway
addict
|
addict
Joined: Oct 2002
Posts: 606 Maryland | It said that grounding the mast using metal plates on the bottom of the boat (more for monohulls) will protect the boat but increase the chances of being struck. Howard Growing up sailing on a monohull, it was SOP to attach the anchor chain to the mast and cast the chain into the saltwater. Wisdom was to provide the least path of resistance to ground. Kris F-16 | | | Re: Struck by lightning
[Re: hrtsailor]
#141695 05/02/08 11:19 AM 05/02/08 11:19 AM |
Joined: Jun 2002 Posts: 1,658 Florida Suncoast, Dunedin Caus... catman
Pooh-Bah
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 1,658 Florida Suncoast, Dunedin Caus... | When Hobie offered the retrofit of the comptip mast for my '85 H-16, they pointed out that the shortening of the aluminum part of the mast would reduce the size of the cone of protection that the mast provided. ...and yet I've seen a comptip that has been struck almost at the top. The best rule is to seek cover asap. If you do the search Mary talked about you'll find a good article by a U of Florida researcher.
Have Fun
| | |
|
0 registered members (),
655
guests, and 139
spiders. | Key: Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod | | Forums26 Topics22,405 Posts267,056 Members8,150 | Most Online2,167 Dec 19th, 2022 | | |