Lightning is a mysterioius an powerful force in nature.

For years we have dealt with the "Cone of Protection"

To keep it short is supplying a route to ground ie in the boating world that is water. The less resistance the better the protection. Sailboats for example use a Dynaplate on fiberglass boats. All chain plates SS rails ect. are routed to the dynaplate. Thru hulls etc are also routed. In therory a stike will hit the mast or antenna and route directly to the dynaplate. Actually most strikes are ground up..

Anyway our big Ms are better than most to find an easy path to the water. On the Great Lakes in open water we used to disconnect major electronics like radar, radios and depth finders. Remember to isolated the unit disconnect the grounds!

That does not mean that it will not cause damage it just imprpves the odds. I lost a FG boat on Lake Superior years ago. htnign strike all looked ok except there were a million spider crakes and pinholes in the hull. We made it to port, but she was doing her best to go down with the Fitz!

By the way, I did not own the boat and was just moving it for a guy and there was no lightning protection installed.

One trick when a storm is approaching is put out warps. (lines looped from grounded cleats into the water) You do not want to be the opposite charge! It will disipate the charge and can improve the odds. Personal protection,,, do not hang on to rails etc and stay under cover.. not on the bridge!

safe boating,

dave

Find a sailboat with a high mast and moor nearby!

Jeff

I have some familiarity with lightning protection, having worked with rockets and other explosives in central florida, the lightning capital of the world.

The "cone of protection" does not exist. In still air (or in a lab) the highest point connected to ground will conduct ions out of the air, and beneath and to the sides of this point the air is free of ions and therefore not conductive. However, when the air is moving, all bets are off because the deionized air is constantly being removed and replaced by air that is probably wet to boot.

I have a photo of a strike going around the huge lightning rod at the top of the access tower, traveling in air alongside the shuttle's tank, and then curving in to strike the mobile launch platform next to the base of one of the boosters, where it evaporated a piece of equipment and melted a hole thru the plate steel. Talk about a close call.

Jeff is right of course, the sailboat provides some protection. Make sure you are downwind of him.

There have been a dozen or more strikes at my marina in the decade that I have been there. They invariably take out something expensive on the top of one of the sailboat masts. One blew a hole through the hull as the lightning took the short route from the guy's SSB counterpoise plate inside, to the water outside.

An M is a welded metal box, a good Faraday cage, and you are safer inside your boat than anywhere else you could be. On deck or the flybridge, not so. A good lightning storm at anchor, with the bolts falling all around, is scary as can be. Beer will not get you thru this, I recommend rum and coke. Ask Sorrydog, he knows.

No metal grounding disks on mine. ?? I take antenas down if I'm on the boat during a storm, but most of the time they remain up.

Roger