On 2008-11-08 12:40:47 -0500, "Roger Long" said:

This winter's major project is to add some serious lightning protection
to "Strider".

Nothing in this thread I can really tag into well....

Our surveyor was struck. He and boat were saved by an alert bridge
tender. As a result, surveyor joined ABYC and helped formulate the
guidelines.

From what I gleaned from him and other sources, I want to give a chance
for the charge to bleed to ground from the mast/stays, but if we are
hit, I want the lightning to stay OUTSIDE the boat.

At the moment, I only have the original charge-dissipation cables from
stays to bolts to our iron keel, a not-bad conductor, particularly as
it's got several square meters of surface.

But if I cruise towards any lightning-prone areas, I'll bulldog-clamp
big copper cables to the base of all stays, bolt zinc guppies to the
end (can never have too much zinc ;-) They'll be on deck as we move,
but dropped overboard when we stop or see a storm coming through.

I've seen too many "lightning arrestor" equipped boats, some installed
by the factory guys, get struck amidst "non-protected" boats with
higher masts.

In other words.....

No, no, No, NO, *NO*! Find something to occupy those idle hands that
will likely add positive survival probability.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/