Lightning Grounding

[crimmins]

Has anyone done any grounding work on their Catalina 34 to provide increased protection in case of a lightning strike on or near the boat? The mechanic who has worked on my Catalina is proposing to ground the stays and shrouds to the keel. Before I spend the money I want to find out if anyone has done work like this. If so, did it work?

Tim Crimmins

[sailaway]

Tim. The idea to ground or not to ground a boat has alot of debate. I  teach marine electronics for our local power squadron.  The books tell you  to ground, all of the older boats had a wire from the mast to the keel. It gave the lighting a path to follow. It was the norm in most sailboats up until about the early 80 when they stoped the practice. The thorey was that with the grounded mast you where attracting the lighting. But without a ground it will blow a hole in the boat and sink it.   This summer a new sailboat boat in Lake Erie, in Put In Bay got hit and it put holes  in the hull  about a foot up from the water line.  Alot of holes did alot of damage. The last I seen the boat it was in Huron, Ohio on the hard. This is a personnal choice I really don'thave an opinion.  Charlie

[Albreen]

This is a great question. Unfortunately I speak from experience as my previous sailboat, a Pearson 32, was struck by lightning at its mooring during an extremely strong storm that blackened the sky turning on streetlights, toppled trees and flooded streets a few years ago in late June. The wind peaked for a short duration on Lake Champlain as witnessed by a friend on his J-30 during the storm to be, well, his wind indicator only reached as high as 70 knots. The P32 sustained multiple, small exit wounds under the water line and the majority of the electronics were fried with no damage to engine controls or systems. One thru hull, the only non-bronze one on the boat which drained the deck at the waterline, was blown out. Fortunately, it was just above the waterline. This boat was very well bonded: keel stepped mast, bronze thru hulls, chainplates, shaft, and engine were connected with 4 or 6 gauge wire to the keel. What followed in discussions with surveyors, yard personnel and even during a class with instructors at a NorthU course afterwards can be best summed up with: there is no one answer. So, I would have to agree with sailaway regarding this being a personal decision. On the downside to bonding (grounding) is the supposed increase in risk for the boat to encourage a strike. To my knowledge, the jury is still out on this thinking. On the upside, grounding a boat can prevent the crew on board from becoming the positive conductor as the path of the energy seeks ground. I searched the net for this article for your reference. Perhaps others on the forum, particularly in Florida, can add their experiences also. Good luck.

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SG071

Lightning is not fun for a sailor and his/her vessel..................