[Rhodes22-list] lightning protection
brad haslett
flybrad@yahoo.com
Tue, 19 Nov 2002 08:08:30 -0800 (PST)
Bill, we agree on at least one point; its a poorly
understood phenomenon. The issue of our masts not
going all the way to the keel is exactly the problem.
When the current gets to the bottom of the mast its
going where? The whole idea of a protection system is
to give it a path. When airplanes take a lightning
strike its the fiberglass parts that get destroyed,
same with boats. While the Rhodes22 wouldn't sink, it
would fry you. The fact that one has not been hit is
not suprising, statistically speaking, because of the
low production numbers. I can understand your
concerns about not wanting to be on deck attaching
lines during a storm. That is why you would want to
be proactive and head for home first and then use
protection only after determining that the storm is
arriving before your destination. I'm not looking for
sailing "boogiemen" but I think this area is analogous
to windshear in aviation in the seventies. "Since we
don't understand it and can't explain it, lets not
talk about it". Brad.
PS. It was my semi-annual sinus flare-up but thank
you for your concern.
--- Bill Effros <bill@effros.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> We have this discussion roughly once a year. When
> all is said and done, its
> clear that this is a poorly understood phenomenon.
> People selling things
> will scare the shit out of you with horror stories.
> They provide "experts"
> who you have never heard of before, propounding
> disproven theories as facts.
>
> None of the theories relate directly to the
> construction of our boats. Most
> of the strikes occur on sailboats where there is a
> direct electrical path
> from the top of the mast to the bottom of the keel,
> frying electrical
> circuits as they go. Our masts are, what, 3-4 feet
> from the water? They
> are mounted on non-conducting fiberglass, with
> wooden support, and a lot of
> air between the bottom of the mast and the water.
>
> Now the first thing you are told about lightning is
> to not touch the mast
> anytime you are concerned about it. But your
> approach would involve running
> to find an excellent conductor, carrying it on the
> deck, attaching it to the
> mast while the other end is still in your hand, and
> leading it overboard in
> such it way that it does not foul. Every time I
> find myself in a potential
> lightning situation I reaffirm the fact that I would
> not even consider this
> approach at a time I was concerned that lightning
> might strike at any
> moment.
>
> We know that some lightning starts in the sky and
> goes down to earth while
> other lightning starts in the earth and goes to the
> sky. Our boats are not
> susceptible to the earth to sky lightning because
> there is no direct path
> from the earth to our masts--unless we attach a
> conductor to the mast and
> drape it over the side and into the water.
>
> There is a school that suggests that these lightning
> protection devices
> generate more strikes on the boats they are supposed
> to protect.
>
> I don't know, but I do know that I have never heard
> of an R-22 being
> structurally damaged by lightning. And I always go
> back to my main motto:
> "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."
>
> Bill Effros
>
> PS -- Sorry to hear about your headache. Maybe it
> was the fumes from your
> generator?
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "brad haslett" <flybrad@yahoo.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
> <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 9:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] lightning protection
>
>
> Bill, several sources I've read indicate that is a
> mis-conception. The statistical data for boats at
> moorings don't indicate a higher mast being more
> likely to be struck than a lower one. Brad.
> --- Bill Effros <bill@effros.com> wrote:
> > Sail or dock near a boat with a 30' mast.
> >
> > Bill Effros
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "brad haslett" <flybrad@yahoo.com>
> > To: <rhodes22-list@rhodes22.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 7:58 AM
> > Subject: [Rhodes22-list] lightning protection
> >
> >
> > 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"
> >
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