On Wed, 20 Aug 2008 19:38:50 -0400, "Eisboch"
wrote:


wrote in message
.. .


I am always curious about how a boat takes a hit but I do have some
experience with a lightning rod. I put a 3' copper rod over my weather
station with a pointy stainless steel tip, connected to 2ga copper
wire and terminated in a ground rod (connected to my extensive house
grounding system)
It has been hit twice that I know of and I was about 30' away during
one of them. A mexican laborer was pretty much under it, plastered
against my garage door. Other than the poop reflex we were totally
unaffected.. The steel garage door he was plastered to is bonded to
the same grounding system as the lightning rod as is the wet concrete
driveway I was standing on.
We were fine. The weather station ... not so much ... either time.


Our house has a copper clad cupula, grounded to two metal rods located near
the house power panels.
It's been hit at least three times. Once, the driveway (near the metal
rods) snapped, crackled and popped for about 5 seconds following the hit as
the energy was absorbed by the ground plane. Originally, it also had a big,
copper weather vane. That has long since been vaporized.

Fine for a house .... not so fine for a boat.

You evidently think a lightning rod will somehow increase the danger,
but such has been proven by long experience not to be the case. BS in
other words. The lightning rod doesn't know or care what is under it.
It prevents strikes in a 90 degree cone under it. Works equally well
for buildings, boats, and powerlines.

Casady