Lightening strike video from on the boat

[Dave_S]

Man, this guy could do with some luck....


https://youtu.be/Df-XCtfU9kw

[Captain Rum]

Apparently he is still trying to repair it now. Fingers crossed he's suceeded with plugging that leak. I bet he'll earth his mast from now on!

[IslandHopper]

It's our old mate Plukky back in strife again.....

[UFO]

Originally Posted by IslandHopper

It's our old mate Plukky back in strife again.....

Is this the dude that sank a cat in West Australia?

[Captain Rum]

Originally Posted by UFO

Is this the dude that sank a cat in West Australia?

Yes it is him.

[Q Xopa]

He's quite a resiliant and resourceful bloke, but had a run of bad luck.

I wish him all the best.

[Dsanduril]

The thing I find interesting is how much still worked after the strike despite the CF wisdom that even portable electronics not in a Faraday cage will be killed. We know it was a direct strike both from the video and because it blew a hole in the bottom of the boat. The electronic GoPro survived just fine, we have video from it so we know it wasn’t protected. The engine started, which also means the battery was OK even if the alternator was mortally wounded. The bilge pumps all worked until the batteries were flat, which tells us both the batteries and pumps survived. He does say the radios were killed. All-in-all this particular, single case doesn’t sound as dire as what would be predicted. The hole in the bottom of the boat seems much more worrisome than the electronics.

[tweitz]

How the heck did he post this video?

[Captain Bill]

It will be interesting to see the followup to this. I'm wondering what the path of the lightning was through the boat and where it made the hole. It looked like it was under the engine or maybe aft of the engine. Could have gone out the shaft or rudder post I suppose. Backstay to the rudder post would make some sense I suppose. His recent posts on their channel appear to have been from last winter in the Caymans before covid hit.

[grantmc]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

... The hole in the bottom of the boat seems much more worrisome than the electronics.

Now there's an understated and subtle point that gave me a chuckle.

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

The thing I find interesting is how much still worked after the strike despite the CF wisdom that even portable electronics not in a Faraday cage will be killed. ...

That random nature of equipment that is unaffected isn't unusual. Here's an old for sale document of a yacht following it's direct hit by lightening The equipment that was damaged is in red, but much survived; even some delicate kit you'd expect would have been toast. More Joy For Sale.

And if you're interested in how the boat More Joy came to be for sale, then click here. The posts certainly give wannabee cruisers a very different perspective than all the lovelies on Youtube.