Lightening storms

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Galaxy

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I was reading the article about the 9 year old that was killed by a lightening srike. I got to thinking, what do liveaboards and cruisers do during lightening storms. Do you leave your vessel or just stay aboard and hope for the best???

(Still in the learning stage about many things.)
 
Do not climb mast during storm but otherwise little risk to life even if direct hit, but do not touch anything metal.

Electronics a big problem, even near hit (less than 0.5 sec flash to crash) put laptops, handheld GPS and VHF in oven. Our mast is keel stepped, if yours is not I believe it is traditional to wrap anchor chain round mast before dunking it to the sea.

Writing with lightening 10 sec (=2 mile) away.

J
 
At the end of the day there isn't really anything you can do. We have been lucky so far, I have seen lightning fizz into the sea a few yards from the boat and have sustained no damage, I know of people who have had everything (electronic) disabled by sheet lightning that did nt even seem to touch the boat.

There are two schools of thought - both contradictory - neither is proven.

1. Make it easy for the lightning to ground, chains around the mast, big conductors to keel bolts etc.

2. Make it hard for the lightning to ground, insulate everything so there is no clear path to earth.

My boat is the latter so in theory the lightning bolt should pick the former if we are side by side - but I would n't bet my shirt on it.

You can use radar to assist and avoid thunder heads but when at anchor there is little you can do, just hope you're not a good target.
 
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I can't point you to any hard evidence on this, so it might be apocryphal, but I have been told by several people over the years that nobody sitting below decks has ever been killed by a lightning strike on a yacht.
 
Galaxy said:
I was reading the article about the 9 year old that was killed by a lightening srike. I got to thinking, what do liveaboards and cruisers do during lightening storms. Do you leave your vessel or just stay aboard and hope for the best???
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On my steel boat, just go below and disconnect aerials. The "Faraday Cage" effect protects everything inside.

We were hit by lightning many years ago in Florida. The result was we lost the VHF and GPS aerials and the radar. There was a streak of bare metal down the hull beneath one of the top stays where the paint had vanished. The compass had 30deg deviation for a while. The masthead light was dodgy thereafter until eventually it was rewired. Otherwise we were fine - SWMBO actually slept through the strike.

But I still don't like lightning storms at sea. Eeriest experience was having St Elmo's Fire in the rigging during a storm off the coast of Africa.
 
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We've had lightning strikes all around but never been hit, mast not grounded. Like Dratsea, our laptop, mobiles, etc. go in the oven. Stay below decks if on mooring or anchor.

We suspect we got a buzz one time on Biscay crossing but never saw any lightning close by or felt anything. Instruments all went haywire for half an hour or so then started working again.
 
Even if you observe little bit of bad weather conditions try not to take the risk of traveling in the boat, it may hit by a thunderstorm. At that moment cruisers should be avoided. Last year I saw in the news that many people were being killed during the storm. They were shaken up when they were in boat.
 
SCARY!!!

:eek: Wow, it sounds pretty scary, especially since you guys have had 1st hand accounts and actually being hit is just insane. So I guess everything they say about the chances of "being hit by lightening" really doesn't apply to boaters.
When your at dock, does anyone take refuge to land or do you just ride it out anyhow?
 
It's not pleasant but also not unduly scary and no I don't go ashore to avoid it, just avoid sitting by chain plates, mast support, VHF etc.

Theory is fine but there don't seem to be any set rules followed by lightning. We are surrounded by boats on moorings, have an island quite close and are also surrounded by salt marshes. We have seen lightening strikes on the island and marshes and several into the sea between the moorings but no boats hit despite many 15-20 meter masts poking skywards. Whether any are grounded, I don't know.
 
Galaxy said:
:eek: Wow, it sounds pretty scary, especially since you guys have had 1st hand accounts and actually being hit is just insane. So I guess everything they say about the chances of "being hit by lightening" really doesn't apply to boaters.
When your at dock, does anyone take refuge to land or do you just ride it out anyhow?
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It's the way some people are about spiders. A lightning storm may make you feel terrified, but the real risk to life is tiny - far less than some of the other risks associated with yachting, which is not a dangerous sport.

I doubt whether "taking refuge to land" actually makes you any safer than if you just stayed inside on your boat, so relax.
 
I've never had lighting close enough to worry about at sea, but have had it very close indeed at anchor. Didn't have an oven to put anything in then, so just looked in awe and fear out of the window - the thought of going out into the rain and onto land never crossed my mind.
 
oh, well that makes me feel much better. The thought of having to flee to land every tinme a storm rolls in sounded tiring and unrealistic, but I certainly don't want to be the fool either. Besides, (aside from the danger) I kind of enjoy storms...
 
Barfieldon said:
Even if you observe little bit of bad weather conditions try not to take the risk of traveling in the boat, it may hit by a thunderstorm. At that moment cruisers should be avoided. Last year I saw in the news that many people were being killed during the storm. They were shaken up when they were in boat.
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You do realise this is a Liveaboard Forum, as in people living on boats?
 
I hated lightning storms.

Here's a cracker we sat through whilst moored off New York.

The new Jeanneau next to us lost all his instruments without taking a direct hit.
 
TonyMS said:
I used to believe the Faraday cage theory, until a lightening strike came under the metal door of our steel barge and zapped the inverter mounted below.

lightening does whatever it feels like!

Tony MS
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I was sat down below at anchor in Beaufort North Carolina in a steel boat when it was hit by lightening. I was not the tallest mast.

Blew the VHF aerial and masthead tri off the masthead, leaving little metal drops on the deck.

The cabin was filled with a blue fuzz for a second. I was rendered deaf for two days. Some electronics were blown including those totally disconnected and sitting on a wooden table.

The hull was magnetised to the point that the compass always pointed to a corner of the doghouse regardless of heading!
 
On a trip from Stellandam to Hellovisluice in Holland we had lighting striking the water around the boat, but didn't get hit ourselves. Then a bit over a year ago, here in Malaysia, we were in a marina and lighting struck the pontoon nearby, we got hit by the 'bounce' lost our laptop and GPS and now it seems that the VHF was affected as it has stopped working.

Other people here who have been struck say they have had equipment failing due to a lighting strike a year or more later. The equipment was checked by engineers who's first remark was 'You got hit by lighting'.

This area, especially round Singapore, is known as lightning alley.
 
Lightening storms. Two times during daylight lightning storms at sea I saw strikes on the water not far from the boat. Going inside is no option, the winds in lightning storms are so disorderly I sail with the main sheet in hand. Visibility near zero, heavy rain or hail.
Our towed rigid dingy fills rapidly, has to be watched, eventually bailed.
Normal storms are predicted. You have all the time to look for the best anchoring spot and prepare the boat. Modern forecasts predict heavy weather a week in advance, one has the time to look for the best possible storm hole. Most weather forecast sites take no account of lightening storm.
They predict ten knots of wind for the whole day, you go have a trip ashore and the yacht sits in 50 knots of thunderstorm without preparation.
Even when on board, a good anchoring spot is non existing, the wind in a lightning storm is very strong, but comes from and changes to every direction. Difficult to convince fresh sailors to keep a reasonable distance from a non conventional yacht. ( Our old heavy semi submarine reacts totally different from an AWB. )
Lightning storm on top of a regular winter storm on the Turkish south coast are horrible. Always at night, the lightning and wind shuts off all lights on land, visibility zero, the noise so strong one can not even hear his own engine any more. Only means to know if the anchors hold is the depth sounder.
We had never electronics fried. We just had VHF and depth sounder, VHF disconnected.
My biggest liveaboard fear : lightning storm. One is helpless, at the mercy of Zeus.
 
Lots of lightning storms in Panama - lots of boats being struck. The local knowledge says carbon fibre masts are most at risk. What to do? We put handheld GPS, VHF, satphone and mobile phones in a metal biscuit tin which then goes in the oven along with the EPIRB. Then just hope - and keep your hands to yourself and your bum on wood.
We see boats with fuzzy sticks at the top of the mast supposedly to take the strike, but you need a copper cable to go over the side and the chimney sweep stick needs to be higher than other antennae - most are not, so what's the point.

Without being too pedantic:
light·en·ing   [lahyt-n-ing] noun Medicine/Medical .
the descent of the uterus into the pelvic cavity, occurring toward the end of pregnancy, changing the contour of the abdomen and facilitating breathing by lessening pressure under the diaphragm.

ight·ning   [lahyt-ning] noun, verb, light·ninged, light·ning, adjective
noun: a brilliant electric spark discharge in the atmosphere, occurring within a thundercloud, between clouds, or between a cloud and the ground.
 
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