| Author | Message | ||
     Brayden Woods New member Username: Brayden Post Number: 7 Registered: 05-2003 Rating: N/A |
My boat was grounded by the previous owner... but all wires seem to lead to the strut. While this is an alternitive to a raw metal plate on the hull I'm sure it is not the solution that the "lightning handbook" would tell you. But on the otherhand, 80% of a solution is better than nothing. I have heard both good and bad things about grounding a boat, and can recall an artical that claimed that there was no siginificant proof that being grounded, or using a dissipator, seemed to have any real effect (but I can not recal the magazine) on the odds of being hit by lightning. A local old-salt once told me to carry booster cables... and if you find yourself in an ugly storm, clip them to the back stay, and toss the other ends in the water. I have done this twice and (I have always had boats that were grounded) I have never been hit. My fathers boat has lost all the electronics twice from the surge of lightning hitting local powerlines while they sat at dock - while waiting out a storm. So if you are there - don't forget to unplug as well. I think that lightning protection is more about your own comfort level, and if deciding not to sail into a thunderstorm fits your comfort level - there won't be a technology that will change that. |
