[Rhodes22-list] Lighting Rod
Ric Stott
ric at steelbone.com
Tue Mar 11 11:07:44 EDT 2014
It helped me laugh today
thanks
Ric
On Mar 11, 2014, at 10:44 AM, Graham Stewart wrote:
> Like Peter, I too got "hit" indirectly, if there is such a concept,
> while
> anchored in a small bay surrounded by tall trees. I almost died from
> the
> enormous boom that sounded like a cannon had gone off in my back
> pocket. All
> of the electronics in the boat went out. So, I obviously wasn't hit
> but it
> did scare the hell out of me.
>
> The first time I ever sailed was when I purchased of an old 19'
> Lightening,
> no pun there, and decided to sail it home even though I had never
> been in a
> sailboat before - even as crew. I figured that I could always motor
> so what
> could go wrong? To get to the point, once well out to sea the motor
> stalled
> and would not start, the distance to home was far greater than I
> thought,
> and as the sub set the wind dropped to zero. I found myself well out
> into
> Lake Ontario utterly becalmed, in the dark, and no motor. That was
> when the
> lightening first appeared in the south and within about 30 minutes
> the sky
> above me was a continuous expanse of sheet lightening like I had
> never seen
> before made all the more intense by the fact that with no wind the
> constant
> explosions were reflected in the calm water all around me.
>
> It was at that moment that I first began to wonder about the
> possibility of
> a sailboat at sea being hit by lightening. I began to theorize
> that being
> the only point in the sky for at least a mile around made me the only
> target. At the same time I had never heard of a sailboat being hit
> so I
> debated in my mind all I knew about electricity, conductors and
> lightening -
> which at the time was close to zero. I eventually concluded that my
> opinion
> was worthless and either I would be hit or I wouldn't.
>
> The one bit of helpful information that I could recall was that I
> had heard
> that sometimes just prior to the strike your hair stands on end from
> the
> build up of the static charge. So the only logical conclusion it
> seemed was
> that if my hair stands up I should dive overboard.
>
> My mind then turned to the aftermath. If the boat was not hit, but I
> drowned
> (quite likely) people would wonder why I would be in the water given
> the
> calm water, and if I didn't drown I would be the laughing stock of
> the town
> when I explained that I had abandoned ship because my hair stood up.
> The
> loss of pride associated with that latter possibility persuaded me
> that the
> only honourable course would be to go down with the ship. So I
> stayed in the
> boat and, fortunately, was not hit.
>
> My subsequent reading about sailboats and lightening suggested that
> without
> lightening protection one is much less likely to be hit but if you
> are hit
> the damage and injury is likely to be great. That means that now
> that I was
> better informed I am still back at the same point I was in when I was
> sitting in the boat in a lightning storm trying to think this trough
> on my
> own. This same dilemma seems to be reflected in the current Rhodes
> discussion.
>
> I am back to thinking that if my hair stands up I should head over
> the side
> as quickly as possible. The only wrinkle here is that,
> unfortunately, I have
> much less hair now that could act as a warning system. My crew (i.e.,
> family) have been so advised of my strategy as well although I must
> admit
> they seem a tad reluctant to embrace the idea. So, during storms I
> just
> watch the one with the most hair.
>
> I hope this little story is helpful to others.
>
> Graham
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of peter
> klappert
> Sent: March-11-14 2:23 AM
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Lighting Rod
>
>
> Gee, don't think I've ever been 1 in a million before, but my R22
> got fried
> by lightning 2 years ago on Tampa Bay. No visible damage to the boat
> itself,
> but all the electronics got cooked. So it wasn't a direct hit, just
> Zeus
> taking a pee nearby. After a fair amount of research on lightning
> mitigation
> for sailboats, I decided crosst fingers are the only cost-effective
> solution.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "James Nichols" <jfn302 at yahoo.com>
> To: "The Rhodes 22 Email List" <rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 1:03:38 AM
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Lighting Rod
>
> The only way I'll be wining the Powerball is if a winning ticket
> blows into
> my face while I'm out for a walk.
>
> James
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Michael D.
> Weisner
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 11:56 PM
> To: 'The Rhodes 22 Email List'
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Lighting Rod
>
> We've had these lightning "discussions" before on the list. Just look
> through the archives for as many opinions as there are replies.
>
> The only thing that is certain is that the chance of being struck by
> lightning, regardless of location, is about 1 in 1,000,000 (1 in
> nearly 4
> million in NY but 1 in 614,000 in Florida,
> http://discovertheodds.com/what-are-the-odds-of-being-struck-by-lightning)
> .
> The chance of winning at least $1,000,000 in the Powerball lottery
> is 1 in
> 5,153,632 (http://www.powerball.com/powerball/pb_prizes.asp).
>
> Sooooo ... if you expect to win the Powerball lottery, I do not want
> to sail
> with you.
>
> Mike
> s/v Shanghai'd Summer ('81)
> s/v <-no name -> ('91)
> Nissequogue River, NY
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of James Nichols
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 10:43 PM
> To: 'The Rhodes 22 Email List'
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Lighting Rod
>
> Typically Lightning will not strike anything that does not give it a
> clear
> path to ground, so running a wire from the mast to the water is only
> inviting lightning to strike the boat more often. Lightning, like
> water,
> always looks for the easiest path to ground. Fiberglass is an awesome
> insulator, so the mast doesn't typically attract lightning. Also,
> while
> lake and sea water conduct electricity (sea water is a much better
> conductor
> because of the salt) Lightning on a lake setting will more likely
> hit a tree
> on the shoreline because the path through the tree into the earth is
> much
> easier than the path through the boat, through the water, then into
> the
> ground. Also, while most lightning happens during a storm, so the
> fiberglass on the boat will be wet, the amount of water clinging to
> the deck
> doesn't usually offer enough of an electrical pathway from the mast
> to the
> main body of water that the lightning would choose to strike the
> boat over
> striking the water directly.
>
> All these statements aside though, as Ron said, stay away from large
> metal
> objects on the boat during a storm, and you should be fine.
>
> As a side note about the quote about deaths of boaters but not
> sailboats.
> The boats that have deaths are because they are running motorboats
> that have
> large engines that create large electro-magnetic fields to drive the
> motor,
> and they tend to run them all out, so the electro-magnetic field is
> as large
> as it can get, and as they are screaming across the water, what they
> don't
> realize is they are screaming, "STRIKE ME!!" And nature says, "Ok."
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org
> [mailto:rhodes22-list-bounces at rhodes22.org] On Behalf Of Ron Lipton
> Sent: Monday, March 10, 2014 7:47 PM
> To: The Rhodes 22 Email List
> Subject: Re: [Rhodes22-list] Lighting Rod
>
> The Rhodes is a lightning rod - there is no need to install another.
> The
> real issue is diverting the current into the water rather then
> through you
> or your electronics. Such a system would include heavy gauge wire
> connecting the mast to a large area conductor in the water. Pretty
> cumbersome. The main thing is to stay away from metal during a
> storm. A
> good reference is:
>
> http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/sg071
>
> " Every year there are multiple deaths of boaters in open boats
> caused by
> lightning strikes, but very few reports of sailors in sailboats
> killed by
> lightning"
>
> Ron
>
>> On Mar 10, 2014, at 19:15, <chcarreon at cox.net> wrote:
>>
>> All,
>> Has anyone installed a lighting rod on a R22? If so, how did you
>> do it?
>>
>> Thanks much,
>> Chuy
>> __________________________________________________
>> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to
>> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>>
>> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
>> archives
>> go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
>> __________________________________________________
>
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
> archives go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
> archives go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
> archives go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
> archives go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
> archives go to
> http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
>
>
> ---
> This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus
> protection is active.
> http://www.avast.com
>
> __________________________________________________
> To subscribe/unsubscribe go to http://www.rhodes22.org/mailman/listinfo/rhodes22-list
>
> For the list Charter and help with using the mailing list and
> archives go to http://www.rhodes22.org/list
> __________________________________________________
More information about the Rhodes22-list
mailing list