[Rhodes22-list] sailing and lightning

[Luis Guzman]

Florida is the lightening capital of the US.  I used to work for a division of 3M  that made a product called Stormscope. This device would map lightening strikes on a screen so pilots could fly around the areas where there was a high concentration of lightening.
   
  The company was based in Columbus, ohio, and our pilots were constantly flying to Florida to test the equipment. 
   
  Anyway, what are the odds of being hit by lightening while sailing?

TN Rhodey <tnrhodey at hotmail.com> wrote:
  

In Florida sailboats get hit by lightening fairly often. I don't know if the 
"hit" rate is higher for grounded vs. ungrounded. I know we have had a few 
sailboats get hit while slipped at marina. Again I don't know the specifics. 
I just do what I can to stay out of the way but I have been caught out in 
some violent storms. Once at anchor a storm rolled in and we watched a 
nearby tree take a direct hit. There wasn't a damn thing we could do other 
than hope for the best. After a short hail burst the storm passed.

For my boat and my use I am not worried about lack of lightening protection.

Wally




>From: Bill Effros 
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list 
>Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] sailing and lightning
>Date: Sun, 30 Jul 2006 07:43:46 -0400
>
>Todd,
>
>With all due respect, you do not seem very sorry.
>
>The electricity is above your head all the time. The ground is below your 
>feet all the time. If it were not difficult for the electricity to arc the 
>gap it would do so all the time.
>
>There are thousands of R-22s out there, yet I cannot point to a single one 
>without a grounding plate that has been hit by lightning. I have been 
>looking for years. Have you done the research that has found one?
>
>I do have friends with other mast-stepped boats who grounded the masts and 
>were soon after struck by lightning. "Thank God I put in that ground just 
>in time!" they say. I see it differently.
>
>Along with Rummy, I stay out of lightning. But my boat, and every other 
>boat, is exposed to lightning 365 days a year--and yet they just don't get 
>hit. Why?
>
>Do the people who ground their boats to the water ground them to the land 
>when they pull their boats for the winter?
>
>When towing do you drag chains?
>
>If it ain't broke don't fix it.
>
>Bill Effros
>
>
>
>Todd Tavares wrote:
>>Bill E. wrote:
>>
>>"Since our masts do not go down into the water, it would seem
>>difficult for lightning to jump to a ground if you don't provide it."
>>
>>Sorry to pick on you Bill, but if lightning can arc 1000ft between the
>>earth or water and the clouds, what makes you think it wouldn't jump that
>>last (or first) five feet from your mast or shroud to the water? There
>>you go again making statements without first doing the research....we
>>didn't even get a dead-end link to follow. ;-D Murphy's Law of
>>lightning says that as soon as you say you would never get struck by
>>lightning, that's when you get hit.
>>
>>Todd T.
>>
>>(joking of course)
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Bill Effros"
>> To: "The Rhodes 22 mail list"
>> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] sailing and lightning
>> Date: Fri, 28 Jul 2006 21:20:18 -0400
>>
>>
>> Ed,
>>
>> I think Rummy has had the most to say on this one, although I agree
>> with what he has said.
>>
>> It boils down to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." It seems to us
>> that grounding your boat provides lightning with a better path.
>> Since our masts do not go down into the water, it would seem
>> difficult for lightning to jump to a ground if you don't provide it.
>>
>> Our thought is that when you hear lightning you should hang out
>> around boats with taller masts that are more likely to be struck.
>> We think the last thing you want to do when you see or hear
>> lightning is grab hold of a grounding plate and throw it into the
>> water. The last thing you may hear is "Wow! Did you see that one?"
>>
>> Bill Effros
>>
>> Tootle wrote:
>> > Where did it go?
>> >
>> > Where is that question I posted?
>> >
>> > Here is what started the question:
>> >
>> > http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000001-d000100/d000007/d000007.html
>> >
>> > It say you should ground your mast. But it does tell me how to
>> ground the
>> > mast that I can figure out. So how do you ground a sail boat??
>> >
>> > Bill Effros, you are the expert on this subject, aren't you?
>> >
>> > So how do you ground a sail boat? John Lock, you are the current
>> > research expert. What is the correct answer?
>> >
>> > Ed K
>> > Greenville, SC, USA
>> >
>> __________________________________________________
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>>
>>
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