GL: Lightning woe

[Al Rodriguez]

My brother's 28' sailboat sank on site while docked at a marina near the intercoastal in North Miami Beach, during a storm.  He did not have any lighting rod equipment installed.  The discharge made a football size hole in the fiberglass hull.

Al Rodriguez
Panga One Fisherman


--- On Tue, 9/29/09, Albin43SDtr <Albin43SDtr at comcast.net> wrote:

> From: Albin43SDtr <Albin43SDtr at comcast.net>
> Subject: Re: GL: Lightning woe
> To: great-loop at lists.samurai.com
> Date: Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 12:16 PM
> 'Lo All,
> 
> While lightening generally follows some general rules, it
> is simply unpredictable.
> 
> Our old sailboat had a 55' aluminum mast, with a 00 copper
> cable running directly to a large ground plate on the hull
> exterior. It had the normal VHF antenna and wind instruments
> mounted on top of the mast. The boat was never hit with
> lightening (at least there was no damage to anything
> mechanical or electrical). However, during a particularly
> violent thunderstorm one evening, a 10' high piling ( aprox
> 12" in diameter), which was about 30' from the sailboat was
> struck and shattered lengthwise into several long pieces
> that looked like wooden fence posts.
> 
> 
> Take care and be safe.
> 
> Wayne
> Celestial
> Albin 43 Sundeck
> Near Panama City, FL
> _______________________________________________
> http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop
> 
> To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change
> email address,
> unsubscribe, etc.) go to: http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/great-loop