[Rhodes22-list] Light in the End

brad haslett flybrad@yahoo.com
Thu, 5 Dec 2002 17:09:56 -0800 (PST)


MJM, are you referring to some medical procedure or is
your software having some fun again?  I assume you
were asking about lightning.  After about a week of
research I found out some interesting facts.  You have
a greater chance of being struck by lightning than
winning the lottery.  If you live in FLA, play or work
outside (SAIL), and hang around tall objects (MASTS)
your odds of being struck go up substantially. 
Lightning travels up to 10 miles toward a random
target and then selects the easiest path in the last
100 feet.  If you stick a 26ft aluminum pole in its
way you become the target. If you wait until you hear
thunder to head for the dock you've already waited too
late.  Many strikes happen in advance of the actual
thunderstorm in clear air.  If you can't avoid being
caught then get out of the cockpit and sit in the
cabin in front of the icebox, drink from non-metallic
containers, and don't touch two seperate conductors. 
Stay away from the mast area (hard to to in a 22ft
boat).  If the mast is struck the charge WILL go
through the bottom of the boat. The stats say you will
probably be OK but you will need some new underwear
and you'll find out if Stan did his homework on
positive floatation.  My personal solution is to keep
a closer eye on the weather than I did in my power
boat days.  If I cruised I would most difinitely
ground the mast but have decided against it on the
R-22 (after all I've been through divorce court so how
bad can a lightning strike be?).  When this subject
comes up again, and it will, I've downloaded a whole
binder of material to piss people off with.  Brad.

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