Lightning

After reading the scariest stories, seems like lightning is a common threat to all us fishermen. I wouild like to pass on a little info that I learned after my encounter with some really bad lightning. You can protect your boat and occupants by using a ground plate on the boat and bonding all electornics, engine, and outriggers to the plate. If this is done, the outriggers become lightning rods that will send any lightning through the ground plate and nowhere else. A outrigger that is 15 feet high will provide lightning protection for the vessel that is equivilant to a circle with a 30 foot diameter. A good example is a sail boat. The mast is 40 feet tall and bonded to a ground plate, it provides a safety zone of an 80 ft circle. As long as the sailboat is shorter than 8o ft, the boat lays entirely in the safety zone. Basically by bonding the major metal items and eletronics to a ground plate creates a "Faraday Cage" which is like an umbrella for lightning. A farady cage consist of a conductive mesh or membrane surrounding a volume of space. The interior of the space "faraday cage" is immune to lightning strikes because the conductivity of the cage forces the potential energy of the interior to be uniform. Without a difference in the potential energy across the space, a person inside the interior of the cage cannot get shocked. Some more examples of a faraday cage would be automobiles, airplanes, tower cranes, navy ships. These things get struck all the time without injury to the people inside. People think that their car is safe because of the rubber tires. It is not because of the rubber it is because of physics. Lighting can close a gap of miles, it could certainly jump a few inches of rubber. To research more search for Michael Faraday, and or lightning protection for boats. This book also has info " Boatowners's Illustrated Handbook of Wiring" by Charlie Wing

i was working on a boat that was grounded and bonded as you speak of. while in most cases it will deter the lightning, my boat still got struck while i was in the slip at the dock. fried everything, electronics, engine (electronically controlled), all the antennas, etc.

Nothing will protect some direct hits.

Yes sir, but my point is the lightning did not fry you. Radios and radars and such are very sensitive to electrical charges and I have seen this type of equipment ruined just by near hits by strikes. I don't think you can protect electronics 100% by any method on land or water, but if you fish alot offshore I would recomend bonding your vessel

deedly said:

Yes sir, but my point is the lightning did not fry you. Radios and radars and such are very sensitive to electrical charges and I have seen this type of equipment ruined just by near hits by strikes. I don't think you can protect electronics 100% by any method on land or water, but if you fish alot offshore I would recomend bonding your vessel

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without a doubt. everything on the boat can be replaced, well, except my innermost layer of garments.

I had a 25' sailboat that was bonded and it got hit at the dock. Fried the panel and managed to find it's way thru the side to the waterline. Put a hole about the size of a .22 in the hull. Lucky for me the dockluines were tight enough that it only took on a miniscual amount of water.

curious to know if these boats at the slip were hook to shore power? If a boat is bonded properly with suffecient grounding surface, lightning should go straight to ground through the ground plate and not though the hull. If the shore power was hooked up, that is a different scenario.

not hooked up here

Don't remember but it probably was as it stayed hooked up unless it was out.

deedly, thatz some heavy stuff right their, great info. ive been in some in some tough spots while fishing, once in a tornado, you know the stuff is bout to hit the fan when you cast a rattletrap, and it never hits the water. Matter of fact you look down and all your line is gone off your reel. Your graphite rods start to play music. What to do? R-u-n-n-oft! worked for us, were are still here.