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Lisa,
I think this is out of the scope of the list,
but your question reminds me of another accident:
once, when sailing in a narrow lake, my mast was
caught between two high-voltage electric wires hanging
across the lake:-)
Fortunately, both the boat and the mast were made of wood...
otherwise, I afraid, I would not be writing to you know:-)

Alex.

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004, Lisa Fiene wrote:

> I distinctly remember being in a 47kt gale once.  We were surrounded by
> storm fronts, and there was much lightning and rain.  As we had a
> following sea which was not too large at the time (only about 4-5m), and
> the wind was from the NE & blowing us where we wanted to go,  we decided
> to run with it, after double reefing. We had a plan to heave to should
> we start to get pooped, but that never happened.
>
> It occurred to me at the time (among other things), that our mast was
> the highest thing out there - thoughts of Benjamin Franklin actually
> came running through my brain.  The lightning was no longer cloud to
> cloud, but vertical.
>
> Ahem, I thought.
>
> In this situation, as our boat is constructed of steel, if we did
> receive a lightning strike on the mast, what would have happened?
>
> Would it blow through the hull, (as I know has happened on GRP and
> timber yachts), or would it dissipate in some way as it's steel?  Would
> it possibly though still have the chance of arcing across to us if we
> remained in the cockpit anyway, even if steel IS some kind of advantage
> in this situation (if that's the word)?
>
> I guess what I'm asking is that if we're ever in that situation again,
> what should we do:
>
> a)  Heave to, go down below, have a shot of rum and pray for the day.
> b)  any other suggestions?
>
> As a complete novice in the wiles of electricity, your opinions would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks, Lisa
>

   

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