G'day Sailors,
I have been trying to find the safest way of protecting my boat in the case of lightning strike. The problem is either non existent or more difficult because I have an Aluminium Cat. A maker of Lightning Conductors had a patent system, but it could only be installed at build stage. Others have stated that the aluminium is a good conductor and a strike should pass to earth.

A Marine Sparkie suggested - get insured and keep 2 wooden spoons by the steering wheel !! Now this seems a practical idea.

I would like to hear of your experiences or any information that you might have on the subject. In the meantime, I will keep the wooden spoons and a pair of thongs next to the helm!

During my period as a professional fisherman I only encountered lightning twice. First time was at sea on the way home and at night. I used the electronics! it was the only way to see where I was heading. The lightning was striking all around the boat and the noise was deafening. Very scary. The boat was a 40 footer with a wooden mast with aerials at the top of the mast. Cabling was earthed to the engine block and the engine was earthed to the prop shaft etc. The consensus at the time is it is safe as long as you stay close under highest point, in this case the mast, as long as the whole lots earthed. The experience was made worst by the idiot deckhand I had working for me at the time freaking out in the cabin beside me!

The other occasion was when I was working in the river with my aluminium net boat. On this occasion I was the tallest bit in the boat. I raced into the bank, got clear of the boat and sat there well clear of trees. My mate working nearby did the same. He had actually been struck by lightening years ago at a hockey game, his girlfriend was killed by the same strike.

After suffering a direct hit on our steel yacht I can only recommend you have a nice insulated place to stand while it's all going on. We got struck off Curlew Island at about 7pm after having around 3 very close hits on the hills around us. Everything on top of the mast was evaporated. My next-g antenna turned into little blobs of fiery plasma floating down and burning small holes in the deck paint. The tri-colour exploded into half. All that was left of the vhf was the ceramic housing. Down below my next-g modem shot out flames from the usb ports and was fried. I think the engine took the brunt of the charge with the current grounding through the propellor shaft as most of the electronic connectors simply blew off... Made for a heart wrenching moment when I went to turn the engine over the next day.

We were subjected to two more electrical storms each subsequent night on the way to Yeppoon. They would kick off just before dark and go until just before daylight. Definately took the gloss off sailing for me. By the end though I would just put out 70 meters of chain, go to bed and put the pillow over my head as there is sweet f all you can do when your 40-120 miles from anywhere.

Only thing I would do differently now is to disconnect any valuable bit of electronics I might have. In particular any comms devices and alternator regulators as these all turned into globs of plastic.

Areas that attract a higher percentage of lightning hits could be due to localised mineralisation in the ground. We have a reef here in the river that has a high ironstone content and it cops a fair pizzling during thunder storms, Ramona knows the one, he's sailed past it more often than I have.