[Rhodes22-list] The great lightning debate.

[Ronald Lipton]

Grounding equipment NEVER should be relied on (or advertised) to avert
strikes.  The best it can do is shunt the current to the water rather than
though your electronics, rigging, and you.

Ron
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <R22RumRunner at aol.com>
To: <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
Sent: Monday, December 06, 2004 1:46 PM
Subject: [Rhodes22-list] The great lightning debate.


> For several years now, lightning has been a topic of great interest.
> Obviously our needs vary depending on whether we are fresh or salt water
sailors. I
> entered into a conversation with a gentleman at the oil quick change
place
> about two weeks ago. The conversation got onto the topic of boating and he
told
> me about the Catalina 27 he sold this summer. His boat had been at the
> Western Carolina Sailing club for several years when about two years ago
he  pulled
> it out of the water for some maintenance and upgrades. One of the
upgrades
> he did was to install lightning protection according to all the
information he
> could find told him to do. Yep, you guessed it. His boat was the  only one
to
> be hit several months later during a storm. It didn't put a hole in  the
> bottom, but fried everything electrical on the boat, including all the
wires  on
> his gas engine. He had to replace all the standing rigging because much of
it
> had been burned. It was a real mess, but his repairs included removing all
> grounding equipment.
>
> Rummy
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