Re: [Cal_Boats] Bonding article

I think I've mentioned this before but in the governor's cup several years ago we were in a major lightening storm and 2 boats were struck out of 147 on the water that night. One was less than 1/2 mile from us which several of my crew saw which produced a chorus of OH SHIT!!! A little later I got a tingle thru the wheel of our boat (a CS 30 at that time). It was painless but scared the crap out of me as I didn't know if a bigger shock was on the way. I happened to have some lightweight neoprene diving gloves on board so I put them on because I didn't have a 2 iron (even God can't hit a 2 iron). That was a long night of squalls separated by dead calms. Paul Allen Edwards <al… [at] PaloAltoPhoto.com> wrote: >I have been told to stand with your feet together and don't touch anything >if you think you might be hit by lightning. Like the bird on the HV line or >the lineman that clips his basket to the HV line, it isn't voltage that >kills you it is the current and you only get current if there is a voltage >difference. Assuming that there is a 100,000,000 volt difference between >your masthead and your keel, you best not touch any two separated parts >because they will for sure be at different voltages. > >I am still thinking the stainless steel rigging will direct the lightning >away from the crew and down to the water. Perhaps this is a case against >synthetic rigging. Although, I am still concerned about those 8 billion >watts and what they would do to the rigging as SS isn't the conductor that >coper is. But in any event, it isn't like we would be on a power boat with >nothing overhead. > >Allen > >On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 9:05 AM, Chris <cc… [at] lsnm.org> wrote: > >> >> >> On 1/2/2011 1:56 PM, Allen Edwards wrote: >> >> >> >> Not being hit by lightning is right up there with not being killed in an >> airplane crash, not being eaten by a shark, and not being killed by >> terrorists. My strategy on all of these is to not have them happen. If I >> lived in Florida I would adopt a different strategy for lightning however as >> I have read that every boat can expect to be hit at least once in its >> lifetime. That would get me closer to the don't be killed in a bicycle >> accident and I would actually do something, like wear a helmet and avoid >> busy roads. The problem with lightning though seems to be that nobody knows >> what the equivalent of a helmet really is as the article in your link points >> out. >> >> >> The lightning problem is actually twofold. One aspect is protecting the >> boat from serious damage. The other is protecting the occupants of the >> boat. When I added grounding wires to the mast & rigging of my other boat, >> it was done in hopes that it might protect the boat, but perhaps intended a >> bit more to keep the voltage off me and my crew, if we were struck. >> >> I've been aboard our historic wooden schooner twice during very severe >> thunderstorms--the kind where the lightning flash and the thunder boom are >> almost simultaneous. Both were intensely nerve-wracking, but in both cases >> I had no other option. In that case, you carry on and hope for the best. >> >> Chris Campbell >> >> >> >> >> >>