[Rhodes22-list] lightning protection

[Wally Buck]

Brad,

This comes up quite often.  I asked the same question myself a while back. 
There seems to be a bunch of different opinions on how effective the various 
lightning protection devices work. Right now I just try to avoid sailing 
when high probability of lightning exists. I would love to hear what you 
come up with.

How does one test a system like this? If you had an old beater sailboat you 
could do some real world testing. Ben Franklin had to fly a kite in a 
lightning storm didn't he, we expect no less from you. :-)

Be careful!

Wally



>From: brad haslett <flybrad@yahoo.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
>To: rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org
>Subject: [Rhodes22-list] lightning protection
>Date: Tue, 19 Nov 2002 04:58:54 -0800 (PST)
>
>This all got started while doing research on
>installing a mast antennae.  Several vendors lightly
>addressed surge protection from lightning strikes to
>the mast and I thought, "who cares about electronic
>euqipment? I want the boat to survive!"  Yesterday I
>spent eight plus hours on the net researching the
>issue and downloaded a 3" binders worth of material
>including the R-22 site info.  My conclusion is this;
>sailboats take more lightning strikes than one would
>think, freshwater boats without grounding don't fare
>well, and, protection is not that difficult.  While
>there are many different opinions and several "old
>wives tales" the general concensus among the experts
>is that having a protection system on board does not
>make one more likely to be struck.  All protection
>systems pretty much do the same thing, they provide a
>path from the mast to the water.  While at dock its a
>simple matter of attaching a #4 cable or flat
>conductor to a 1' square or bigger conductor in the
>water.  The straighter the path and the fewer the
>bends the better (lightning doesn't like to turn
>corners).  Under sail is a different story.  No one
>wants to sail with cables on the foredeck and plates
>dangling in the water.  Therefore, a portable and
>quickly attachable system is needed (battery cables
>get knocked off at the moment of strike).  The
>StrikeShield system is perfect but expensive.  I am
>presently researching a "homemade", ie, Home Depot
>approach that will do the same thing for far less
>money. Most boat manufacturers don't address the
>issue, probably for liability reasons.  Catalina
>issues a bulliten from the ABYC on the subject and
>basically tells you "you're on your own".  Over the
>past fifteen years I have been caught at least three
>times in thunderstorms in powerboats and once in a
>canoe.  Now that my boat has a 26ft tall lightning rod
>I'd like to better my chances.  Ideas?
>
>Brad Haslett
>"CoraShen"
>
>__________________________________________________
>Do you Yahoo!?
>Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site
>http://webhosting.yahoo.com
>_________________________________________________
>Use Rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org, Help? www.rhodes22.org/list

_________________________________________________________________
Add photos to your messages with MSN 8. Get 2 months FREE*. 
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail