Preparations for a Lightning Strike

[Zednotzee]

Originally Posted by sabray

I like to lure a bunch of cats to anchor near me with my big stick. They think their safe but Im thinking more targets.

I read somewhere that multihulls were twice as likely to be struck by lightning than monos.

Catamarans

Oh, I guess it was Boat US stats.

[sangaris]

Manta catamarans all came standard with the Strike Shield Lightning Protection System from Seyla Marine in Canada - you might want to look at their website and the evaluation Sail magazine and others did.
Don't believe there is anything that is 100% - but we have been in some very strong storms and never been hit - I also disconnect shore power whenever there is a lightning storm in the area if I am at a dock.
Best wishes on your search.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by sangaris

Manta catamarans all came standard with the Strike Shield Lightning Protection System

This is why we always prefer to anchor close to Gunboats or Lagoons.

[rourkeh]

We got struck back in August, hit the mast and went out the grounding plate. But there is no rhyme or reason to the methodology to lightning strikes or the path it can travel. I have seen it go through a marina sideways and skip boats. All the people touting systems and methods of protection usually have some basis in fact but at the end of the day there is no sure fire protection. From our experience the elecrical charge will try to follow the wiring, and it prefers to go up and down rather than sideways. A grounding plate is some use as in our case, but I have seen it exit the prop shaft on a boat, and I have seen boats get their keel blow off. It would seem that lightning is just one of the many things we do not understand, and very little progress has been made due to the fact that finding a solution is not very profitable.

[CRM]

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond to my question.

[Wand]

Originally Posted by CRM

Thanks to everyone for taking the time to respond to my question.

Er, can you tell what the answer was then - i seem to have missed it.

And to Kashmir Cat wih the battery cables & zincs, can you get back to us after a hit and tell us whether it worked. Sounds right for my budget

[mikefp60]

When we get into lighting situations we toss every loose pc of electronic equipment in the oven. Laptops, gps, cameras, phones. Anything that isn't nailed down. Turn off all non essential electronics but I doubt that would be any measure of protection. And hope for the best. Never been struck and never forgot and turned on the oven. Yet.

Did get into a very active lighting storm coming into block island. There was so much energy in the air it was making our hair stand up and the ozone smell was incredible. Thought for sure we would get blasted. Strikes all around us. Almost constant for about 15 minutes. Very scary. Was very glad when that one passed by.

[rabend]

A lighning strike is usually preceded by a charge build-up on the boat that attracts the strike. Removing grounds then can help cause a strike. It is generally good to have everything well grounded. To my knowledge though there is no such thing as guaranteed strike prevention.

Bob

[JamuJoe]

I studied this topic after losing all of our electronics from a lightening strike many years ago while sailing Hunter 30 off of the Mississippi coast. Although the boat had no special grounding system, there was thankfully no damage to the hull or to the helmsman at the stainless wheel. My Leopard 42 catamaran does have a cute disk mounted atop the mast, installed by my previous charter company after many of the yachts in Placencia took lightening hits. I saw some nasty damage from a couple of those hits. Who knows how effective it would be?

I find from this Boat US article that "lightening protection", more accurately 'lightening damage mitigation', hasn't advanced all that much. The "zone of protection" is regarded by many experts as a myth. My practical approach is to steer clear of thunderstorms when possible, and maintain my insurance.
BoatUS.com - Seaworthy Magazine

[John A]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I think it was Lee Trevino who prevented lightning strikes on the golf course by holding a 2 iron over his head. "Even God cannot hit a 2 iron."

Seriously

Lee Trevino was struck by lightning while playing in a tournament and was hospitalize. I don't think he ever won again.

[imagine2frolic]

I don't believe there is such a thing.........i2f

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by John A

Lee Trevino was struck by lightning while playing in a tournament and was hospitalize. I don't think he ever won again.

After he was struck by lightning at the 1975 Western Open, Trevino was asked by a reporter what he would do if he were out on the course and it began to storm again. Trevino answered he "would take out his 1 iron and point it to the sky, because not even God can hit the 1 iron."
The injuries he suffered lingered, but he recovered to win another Vardon Trophy in 1980. The 1984 PGA Championship was his final major and final PGA Tour victory.

[zeehag]

only guaranteed lightning protection is -----


NONE.


goood luck. we didnt have the hair on our necks standing up-- but i did feel tingling at the bilge cover--had aluminum edging-- tickled my toesies when i touched it...so i put my crocks back on....and hid under kat....we were sailing at about 8 kts at that time..mid gulf---was wild ride...even went to making a ditch bag...kat's eyes were HUGE.....(maine coon--big eyes anyway-- but--WOW!).
i dont know if i like being at anchor or underway in these beasties-- is sailing kinda like being a moving target and makes the gods aim better, or is it best to hide and try to look invisible to them---is there a dissipation of energy caused by movement of boat thru water or is it same as sitting--we dont know. even the NASA engineer in slidell who keeps receiving lightning strikes doesnt know--he was so well protected he got hit 2 times in 4 yrs in same location. (just gets his boat repaired then receives another one)
so i will stick to my crocks that attract nothing and no one, my kat--an anti-zap kat hat-- there is no 9recorded history of a feline ever being hit by lightning) and my rubber coat and rainhat...what can it hurt?? as long as i have kat to hide under we are alll good....

[SurfNRG]

To share an experience, I was anchored in Marsh Harbour in my catamaran a couple years ago when a gnarly thunderstorm rolled through. We're not bonded/grounded - no protection. Bolt hit just north of us and traveled over us and hit another cat that was docked - I assume plugged in, hence grounded. Their mast height was slightly higher than ours. That cat burned to the waterline. We had no reported damage except having to change my shorts. I had put my e80 chartplotter in my oven along with laptop and VHF handheld (faraday). I draw no definite conclusion - knock on wood (balsa in this case) cause I don't want it to jinx me. We also had encountered another severe lightning storm coming across the Gulfstream the same year. Just off Little Bahama Bank a bolt of lighting (at night) hit just to the north of us into the water. What a site! Once again, no hit (Thank U God). I'm not drawing any definite conclusion but I have my silent opinion..,

[imagine2frolic]

We had lightning hit our marina. There was no direct hit observed at the docks. The office took a direct hit, and the antenna glowed red, and tumbled over. The boats on the piers were hit, and miss. I lost alternators, gps, autopilot, radar, battery combiners, and a few other items. The boat in front of me lost nothing. The boat behind me lost a few items. Across from me a boat lost a few items, and one lost nothing. 4 piers down a boat lost nearly everything, and he had no shore power.

I sent my autopilot off to be rebuilt, and the designer said it looked more like an electrical field that did the damage. Heigth of mast, how many hulls, plugged into shore power, or not seems not to matter. What seems to matter if it's your lucky day, or not.

An electrical engineer who helped send the landing craft to the moon says there are 2 schools, of thought. To be grounded, or not to be, and both take hits. Maybe carrying a rabbit's foot will help?.........i2f