About 30 years ago a friend and I were caught in multiple storms on the Chesapeake Bay while aboard his center console fishing boat. Just before the first storm, I asked him to turn off the VHF because it was crackling. He said it was off and received a minor shock while putting down the antennae. I shouted for him to get the boat moving and he asked where? Anywhere but here I replied. Hours of thunderstorms followed with the boat being spun around in circles; we tried anchoring and got the prop fouled in a crab pot line so I hung off the stern and cut it free. Friends of his were calling us on the radio that was turned off with antennae down. We finally made it back to shore late in the evening. I can still see large sailboats that were sailing in the storm. At the time, I thought they were out having fun, but perhaps they too were just trying to stay afloat. Having survived the experience, it is strangely a fond memory that I don't want to re-experience.
I had the electronics destroyed on my boat from lightning. The strange thing was my boat with a 65 ft mast wasn’t the target, it was the power boat three slips down. There were burn marks all over the boat. BoatUS made me and paid to have the boat pulled out of the water and inspected. They were concerned that the keel may have been damaged. In the end I got all new electronics for the cost of my deductible. Which was quite a bargain. I will never understand how lightning missed me and got the power boat.
Great article from the SCA archives. If you want to dig deeper, here's the link to Ewen Thomson's paper, https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/76/10/00001/SG07100.pdf. And to William Becker's, https://nasdonline.org/static_content/documents/7182/d000007.pdf. The folks at the University of Florida are, not surprisingly, super knowledgeable about lightning; lots of info on their website (http://www.lightning.ece.ufl.edu/), some real techy, some not so much. And surely coincidentally (??), I see that Nigel Calder, author of "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual," has an article on lightning and the latest on the NFPA and ABYC standards in the current issue (No. 202, April/May 2023) of Professional Boatbuilder magazine.
Ever see that viral video of the boat at a dock in Winthrop Mass. getting blasted by lightning? It was a few years ago. I kept my boat on a mooring there for a while, so there is a threat of lightning even in the relatively safe Northeast.
A friend of a friend on the Chesapeake Bay 30 years ago told me about a fellow who was terrified of lightening storms, let’s call him Frank. Frank, an engineer, took extraordinary steps to bond his boat, a 28’ sloop, with a stout grounding strap from the aluminum mast to a large plate Frank bolted to the bottom of the fiberglass hull during haul out. Frank felt confidant that providing a large conductor from his mast head to the water beneath his boat he would be safe from a bolt of lightening. That I, until the next summer. Frank was out on the Bay during a lightening storm, the boat was struck by a tremendous blue crack, the cabin lit up and the boat lurched to port. Frank peered into the cabin to see water rushing in, floorboards floating up to reveal a square edged section of hull tethered by a stout grounding strap. In a couple of minutes Frank was bobbing in his life jacket, surrounded by floatsom, his boat gone. I don’t remember how Frank made it back to shore, but he did live to tell the tale. I noted that in the lightening protection devices mentioned above they described bonding to the hull above the waterline. Frank would probably agree.
(All these incidents occurred in Biscayne Bay, Florida between 1979 and 1985.)
Caught out in a summer thunderstorm, had a lightning flash and thunder clap occur simultaneously, while I was in the cabin. Didn't think too much of it, until after I had retrieved my trailerable sailboat. There was a carbonized streak going from the port shroud to the waterline and I realized the boat had taken a strike.
Strike 2:
Down at the south end of Biscayne Bay, I had just secured the sails and gotten below, when a lightning strike occurred and I felt the hair on my arms and legs lift up.
When I returned to the ramp to retrieve my sailboat, I discovered that the mast step bolt had welded itself to the mast step plate. I had to cut loose a portion of the step plate with a hacksaw in order to drop the mast.
Near Miss:
In Biscayne Bay, near Soldier's Key, we were again waiting out a thunderstorm, down below and had a nearby lightning strike, hit the water just east of our stern, which we could see through the ports. A second or so later we heard numerous loud thumps all over the sailboat. When the storm passed and we ventured out of the cabin, we discovered numerous chunks of coral rocks on the cabin roof and in the cockpit. We theorized that the lightning strike had hit the shallow water and traveled to the bottom and the resulting energy turned to steam and blew the rocks off the bottom. Ironically, the near-miss did more damage to the sailboat than the lightning strikes had done.
In a 21 ft runabout zipping across Barnegat Bay with lightening strikes in our area my partner saw another boat stopped and 2 men waving at us. We went alongside , their boat had been hit and they were badly scared , one was a bit incoherent , we left the boat there and brought them to my house.
A few shots of rum later (their choice not mine) and after the storm we went out to get their boat.
There was not a wire in that boat that was undamaged and there was a leak around their zinc. We towed them to their launch ramp and that's pretty much the story except that we saw them out occasionally after that.
Another time on a muggy damp night I was driving my beach buggy along an Atlantic beach with a graphite fishing rod standing up in a rod holder on the front bumper. There was no rain or lightning around. I drove thru a strange little cloud at ground level , I could almost feel the electricity.
Farther down the beach I stopped to fish and lifted the rod out of it's holder , the line had a bit of a glow to it which I ignored. When I stepped into the water I got a shock so hard that I threw the rod down. My guess then and now is that the graphite rod was acting as a battery.
My present strategy when caught out in a storm with lightning in my DS2 is to clamp a jumper cable to a shroud and throw the other end over , then cower down & hope for the best.
I like the chain clipped to shroud idea. With a quick connect on all three lengths, they could be added to your anchor for added chain length if not expecting a storm! BestRoy
I often pull up, into a sheltered nook on an island, only to see the ominous reminants of a burnt out tree just yards from my "Safe Harbor"! I think to myself, "what are the odds of lightning striking twice"? Maybe not as slim as I'd like!!! And sleep much better when my friend with an aluminium mast pulls up beside me! AllthebestRoy
I get your articles on email. They often are not complete, interrupted by a request for a paid subscription, which is fine. Thank you for presenting this important safety article in its entirety.
Here's another lightening story. About 20 years ago, the owner and I were transporting a 30ft homebuilt plywood catamaran from Charleston to Cape Fear along the Intercoastal. One calm evening we pulled into a small cove, possibly Sunset, and were anchored and settling in for the evening. the dinghy was tied off and we were deciding what to do for supper. A series of dark clouds appeared in the west heading our way. We stowed things and watched as the clouds moved in quickly, very quickly. There were at least six or so other sailboats in the anchorage all tucked in. We saw occasional lightening but did not get concerned. The wind came up quickly and was intense all of a sudden. We each headed for shelter in our respective hulls, My side had the galley. Within seconds of going below, our mast was struck. This was the loudest noise had ever heard and sounded like an expolosion which it literally turned out to be. There was no sense of impending current such as hair standing up, just boom. The storm passed in a minute or two so we stuck our heads out to see what happened. Neither of us could hear for at least a half hour. Evey other boat had dragged anchor and was ashore as was our dinghy. We went below and found at least five holes in each hull one under the sink about fist sized. The intense vey short duration current had heated moistre in the wood and caused it to create steam and explode. Stuffing rags were not helping much so we developed a plan to swim after and collect the dinghy. We had some pieces of tire inner tube and were able to screw them over the larger holes. Every piece of electronics on that boat was blown apart except the starter battery which somehow survived. Neither of us was injured though I still have tinnitis and a little hearing loss from the event. The next day, we motored the boat to a marina a few miles away and began patching. A ground was also installed before it went back in the water.
Thanks for adding your article, Mike, which has plenty of good ideas based on your experience. We get plenty of thunderstorms on the Chesapeake Bay, and I like your copper tube idea with a welding clamp to my aluminum mast, in lieu of jumper cables from the SS shrouds (which could melt if the current is high enough). Easy to make, carry, and deploy -- and I can use it on all of my boats. And a takeaway I got from reading Nigel Calder's latest is that all the connections on any "lightning protection system" should be "perfect" -- no corrosion.
About 30 years ago a friend and I were caught in multiple storms on the Chesapeake Bay while aboard his center console fishing boat. Just before the first storm, I asked him to turn off the VHF because it was crackling. He said it was off and received a minor shock while putting down the antennae. I shouted for him to get the boat moving and he asked where? Anywhere but here I replied. Hours of thunderstorms followed with the boat being spun around in circles; we tried anchoring and got the prop fouled in a crab pot line so I hung off the stern and cut it free. Friends of his were calling us on the radio that was turned off with antennae down. We finally made it back to shore late in the evening. I can still see large sailboats that were sailing in the storm. At the time, I thought they were out having fun, but perhaps they too were just trying to stay afloat. Having survived the experience, it is strangely a fond memory that I don't want to re-experience.
I had the electronics destroyed on my boat from lightning. The strange thing was my boat with a 65 ft mast wasn’t the target, it was the power boat three slips down. There were burn marks all over the boat. BoatUS made me and paid to have the boat pulled out of the water and inspected. They were concerned that the keel may have been damaged. In the end I got all new electronics for the cost of my deductible. Which was quite a bargain. I will never understand how lightning missed me and got the power boat.
Great article from the SCA archives. If you want to dig deeper, here's the link to Ewen Thomson's paper, https://ufdcimages.uflib.ufl.edu/IR/00/00/76/10/00001/SG07100.pdf. And to William Becker's, https://nasdonline.org/static_content/documents/7182/d000007.pdf. The folks at the University of Florida are, not surprisingly, super knowledgeable about lightning; lots of info on their website (http://www.lightning.ece.ufl.edu/), some real techy, some not so much. And surely coincidentally (??), I see that Nigel Calder, author of "Boatowner's Mechanical and Electrical Manual," has an article on lightning and the latest on the NFPA and ABYC standards in the current issue (No. 202, April/May 2023) of Professional Boatbuilder magazine.
Ever see that viral video of the boat at a dock in Winthrop Mass. getting blasted by lightning? It was a few years ago. I kept my boat on a mooring there for a while, so there is a threat of lightning even in the relatively safe Northeast.
A friend of a friend on the Chesapeake Bay 30 years ago told me about a fellow who was terrified of lightening storms, let’s call him Frank. Frank, an engineer, took extraordinary steps to bond his boat, a 28’ sloop, with a stout grounding strap from the aluminum mast to a large plate Frank bolted to the bottom of the fiberglass hull during haul out. Frank felt confidant that providing a large conductor from his mast head to the water beneath his boat he would be safe from a bolt of lightening. That I, until the next summer. Frank was out on the Bay during a lightening storm, the boat was struck by a tremendous blue crack, the cabin lit up and the boat lurched to port. Frank peered into the cabin to see water rushing in, floorboards floating up to reveal a square edged section of hull tethered by a stout grounding strap. In a couple of minutes Frank was bobbing in his life jacket, surrounded by floatsom, his boat gone. I don’t remember how Frank made it back to shore, but he did live to tell the tale. I noted that in the lightening protection devices mentioned above they described bonding to the hull above the waterline. Frank would probably agree.
2 Strikes and a Near Miss.
Strike 1:
(All these incidents occurred in Biscayne Bay, Florida between 1979 and 1985.)
Caught out in a summer thunderstorm, had a lightning flash and thunder clap occur simultaneously, while I was in the cabin. Didn't think too much of it, until after I had retrieved my trailerable sailboat. There was a carbonized streak going from the port shroud to the waterline and I realized the boat had taken a strike.
Strike 2:
Down at the south end of Biscayne Bay, I had just secured the sails and gotten below, when a lightning strike occurred and I felt the hair on my arms and legs lift up.
When I returned to the ramp to retrieve my sailboat, I discovered that the mast step bolt had welded itself to the mast step plate. I had to cut loose a portion of the step plate with a hacksaw in order to drop the mast.
Near Miss:
In Biscayne Bay, near Soldier's Key, we were again waiting out a thunderstorm, down below and had a nearby lightning strike, hit the water just east of our stern, which we could see through the ports. A second or so later we heard numerous loud thumps all over the sailboat. When the storm passed and we ventured out of the cabin, we discovered numerous chunks of coral rocks on the cabin roof and in the cockpit. We theorized that the lightning strike had hit the shallow water and traveled to the bottom and the resulting energy turned to steam and blew the rocks off the bottom. Ironically, the near-miss did more damage to the sailboat than the lightning strikes had done.
In a 21 ft runabout zipping across Barnegat Bay with lightening strikes in our area my partner saw another boat stopped and 2 men waving at us. We went alongside , their boat had been hit and they were badly scared , one was a bit incoherent , we left the boat there and brought them to my house.
A few shots of rum later (their choice not mine) and after the storm we went out to get their boat.
There was not a wire in that boat that was undamaged and there was a leak around their zinc. We towed them to their launch ramp and that's pretty much the story except that we saw them out occasionally after that.
Another time on a muggy damp night I was driving my beach buggy along an Atlantic beach with a graphite fishing rod standing up in a rod holder on the front bumper. There was no rain or lightning around. I drove thru a strange little cloud at ground level , I could almost feel the electricity.
Farther down the beach I stopped to fish and lifted the rod out of it's holder , the line had a bit of a glow to it which I ignored. When I stepped into the water I got a shock so hard that I threw the rod down. My guess then and now is that the graphite rod was acting as a battery.
My present strategy when caught out in a storm with lightning in my DS2 is to clamp a jumper cable to a shroud and throw the other end over , then cower down & hope for the best.
JW
I like the chain clipped to shroud idea. With a quick connect on all three lengths, they could be added to your anchor for added chain length if not expecting a storm! BestRoy
I often pull up, into a sheltered nook on an island, only to see the ominous reminants of a burnt out tree just yards from my "Safe Harbor"! I think to myself, "what are the odds of lightning striking twice"? Maybe not as slim as I'd like!!! And sleep much better when my friend with an aluminium mast pulls up beside me! AllthebestRoy
I get your articles on email. They often are not complete, interrupted by a request for a paid subscription, which is fine. Thank you for presenting this important safety article in its entirety.
Here's another lightening story. About 20 years ago, the owner and I were transporting a 30ft homebuilt plywood catamaran from Charleston to Cape Fear along the Intercoastal. One calm evening we pulled into a small cove, possibly Sunset, and were anchored and settling in for the evening. the dinghy was tied off and we were deciding what to do for supper. A series of dark clouds appeared in the west heading our way. We stowed things and watched as the clouds moved in quickly, very quickly. There were at least six or so other sailboats in the anchorage all tucked in. We saw occasional lightening but did not get concerned. The wind came up quickly and was intense all of a sudden. We each headed for shelter in our respective hulls, My side had the galley. Within seconds of going below, our mast was struck. This was the loudest noise had ever heard and sounded like an expolosion which it literally turned out to be. There was no sense of impending current such as hair standing up, just boom. The storm passed in a minute or two so we stuck our heads out to see what happened. Neither of us could hear for at least a half hour. Evey other boat had dragged anchor and was ashore as was our dinghy. We went below and found at least five holes in each hull one under the sink about fist sized. The intense vey short duration current had heated moistre in the wood and caused it to create steam and explode. Stuffing rags were not helping much so we developed a plan to swim after and collect the dinghy. We had some pieces of tire inner tube and were able to screw them over the larger holes. Every piece of electronics on that boat was blown apart except the starter battery which somehow survived. Neither of us was injured though I still have tinnitis and a little hearing loss from the event. The next day, we motored the boat to a marina a few miles away and began patching. A ground was also installed before it went back in the water.
Thanks for adding your article, Mike, which has plenty of good ideas based on your experience. We get plenty of thunderstorms on the Chesapeake Bay, and I like your copper tube idea with a welding clamp to my aluminum mast, in lieu of jumper cables from the SS shrouds (which could melt if the current is high enough). Easy to make, carry, and deploy -- and I can use it on all of my boats. And a takeaway I got from reading Nigel Calder's latest is that all the connections on any "lightning protection system" should be "perfect" -- no corrosion.