[Rhodes22-list] sailing and lightning
William E. Wickman
wewickman at duke-energy.com
Mon Jul 31 10:54:57 EDT 2006
I was caught in a violent storm on our lake a couple of Fridays ago. It
was a hot muggy evening, and we decided to make a run up the lake which is
really more like a very wide river (Ft. Loudon Lake) to a swimming hole,
complete with cliff diving and rope swings. I ended up with nine people on
my Rhodes (that's right, nine), and towed three kayaks. About an hour
before sunset, some very ugly clouds rolled over the high bluff where we
were anchored, so we quickly loaded up and started to head the 3-4 miles
back to our yacht club. Within 15 minutes we were slammed with high winds
of 45-55+ mph gusts. Even with the short fetch on our lake, the waves were
churning. Then came the rain; wind driven rain that felt like needles on
my face and skin. I debated whether to set an anchor and ride out the
storm, but I was within a couple of miles of my dock so decided to make a
run for it. I had confidence in my Rhodes, but the weight of my passengers
and three kayaks in tow combined with wind and waves made for slow going,
even with my 9.9hp outboard. As we rounded the bend to make the final dash
to the docks, the light began to really fade as the dark storm clouds
blotted out the early evening sunset.
Then came the lightening. There was ground strike lightening all around
us. We were at ground zero of the storm cell, and the storm and lightening
seemed that much more intense because of the falling darkness. Just before
I reached the docks, I saw a couple of strikes hit the hillside just behind
the docks less than 500 yards away. It was very unnerving, but never did
the lightening hit any of the 150+ sailboats in our yacht club; nor did it
hit my boat, thank goodness. Docking in such high winds was another story,
but happily I nailed my landing and got everyone on shore safely. It was
quite an adrenaline rush.
The reason that I share this story is to relate my real life experience
that 1) The best defense against not getting struck by lightening is to not
be caught in it in the first place. Boats and electronics can be replaced.
People cannot. 2) No one ever purposely goes out into a lightening storm,
but many are caught in them. It is inevitable. 3) It doesn't appear that
you are any more likely to be struck by lightening in a sailboat (or
certainly a Rhodes) than being struck while on land. If there was any
propensity for lightening to hit a Rhodes in water that evening, it would
have happened. That is not to say it couldn't, but rather I don't think
that the Rhodes is a floating lightening rod that attracts lightening. It
was interesting to me that of all the lightening I saw, none of it hit the
lake itself, only the land around the lake. 4) When its your time, its
your time. It wasn't my time that night.
Bill Wickman
P.S. I am still working on my trip log to the Bahamas. I am about to give
up getting the whole thing written before posting, and may just start
posting each day as I get it finished.
TN Rhodey
<tnrhodey at hotmail
.com> To
rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org
07/30/2006 08:46 cc
AM
Subject
Re: [Rhodes22-list] sailing and
Please respond to lightning
The Rhodes 22
mail list
<rhodes22-list at rh
odes22.org>
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 <bill at effros.com>
>Reply-To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>To: The Rhodes 22 mail list <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
>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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