[PUP] diesel duck 462 DavidEllis going Hong Kong to Seattle

[2elnav at netbistro.com]

----- Original Message ----- 
> daily updates and details at www.sailblogs.com/member/sempergumbi? >



REPLY
Interesting comments about  having to disconnect all the electronics  and 
relying on steering by magnetic compass.   I think this should elicit some 
interesting discussions  among cruisers.

A steel hull is effectively a grounded faraday cage.  Would this not provide 
some protection inside the hull?  Admittedly it does not protect against  a 
direct hit and perhaps  a very close strike  may also produce damaging 
voltages.
Professor Ewen Thompson  has done some superb research and  his commercial 
company provides  lightning protection systems.  I get the impression most 
of his systems are fitted to GRP hulls.  How and what is different in  metal 
hulls has not been mentioned.

As for the compass,  I am inclined to  give consideration to a stand alone 
KVH  Azimuth  1000  with a stand alone power supply.  Being inside a faraday 
cage  it should be fairly well protected and thus secure even in a lightning 
storm.  This si one magnetic reading compass  that  can compensate for a 
steel hull.  They also have a gyro stabilized  model specifically intended 
for the commercial,  fishing fleet market  where steel hulls is very common.
My own tests  indicate  the manufacturer's claim for accuracy  in steel 
hulls is valid.


cheers
Arild