On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 23:57:32 GMT, wrote:


Has anybody made a Google Earth presentation to
show dangerous locations around the world where
we may encounter unpredictable or unavoidable
storms, rogue waves, pirates, sea mines, etc. ?

I don't know enough to do this myself but here are
some of the dangerous locations along the world's
major sailing routes which I've read about :

Bay of Biscay
Offshore in the Pacific Northwest
Between Panama and Aruba
Gulf of Tehuantepec
Gulf of Papagayo
Red Sea
Tasman Sea
East coast of South Africa
Between the South Pacific and New Zealand

===============================

Look for the notations in small print that say "There be pirates
here". Arrgh matey, there be pirates here.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

Look for the notations in small print that say "There be pirates
here". Arrgh matey, there be pirates here.



You talkin' about Boat/US or West Marine....hee hee...(c;

On Sat, 17 Dec 2005 22:59:07 -0500, Larry wrote:

You talkin' about Boat/US or West Marine....hee hee...(c;

Arrrgh indeed.

The trouble with WM is that they have become so ubiquitous and
convenient that the path of least resistance is just to pay up and be
on your way. Time (my time) is money also, and you've got to admit
that their service and returns policy are first rate.

Wayne.B wrote in
:

The trouble with WM is that they have become so ubiquitous

That's ok as long as they don't become omnipotent...(c;

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 12:50:10 -0500, Larry wrote:

Wayne.B wrote in
:

The trouble with WM is that they have become so ubiquitous

That's ok as long as they don't become omnipotent...(c;

========================================

I believe the last person to claim ubiquitous omnipotence was struck
by lightening...

Funny that no one mentioned lightening as a sailing hazzard. I know
of at least half a dozen boats that have been hit, one twice in one
day, and another one or two sunk at the dock due to vaporized thru
hull fittings.

Wayne.B wrote:
Larry wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:

The trouble with WM is that they have become so ubiquitous

That's ok as long as they don't become omnipotent...(c;

I believe the last person to claim ubiquitous omnipotence was struck
by lightening...

Funny that no one mentioned lightening as a sailing hazzard. I know
of at least half a dozen boats that have been hit, one twice in one
day, and another one or two sunk at the dock due to vaporized thru
hull fittings.

Is this preventable by installing a lightning prevention system ?
Tayana offers this as an option for $1000 but I don't know how
well it works.

On Sun, 18 Dec 2005 21:58:39 GMT, wrote:



Is this preventable by installing a lightning prevention system ?
Tayana offers this as an option for $1000 but I don't know how
well it works.

It is not preventable. Grounding systems provide protection by
creating a more attractive route to the lightning so that it does not
travel through the hull, woodwork or the crew.

Check out http://www.thomson.ece.ufl.edu/lightning/ for a good
discussion of lightning and boats.


Jack

_________________________________________
Jack Dale
ISPA Yachtmaster Offshore Instructor
CYA Advanced Cruising Instructor
http://www.swiftsuresailing.com
_________________________________________

wrote in news:jYkpf.3745$mj1.1632
@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Is this preventable by installing a lightning prevention system ?
Tayana offers this as an option for $1000 but I don't know how
well it works.




Get that offer in writing so you can sue their asses in court when
lightning holes the hull.....(c;

NO lightning prevention system can prevent lightning from destroying the
boat....and still have a boat the waterline is below the toerail.
Lightning is hundreds of thousands of amps at billions of volts rising
from 0 in microseconds, creating an amazing electro-magnetic pulse,
which is what destroys all your electronic stuff. It only has to be
"close" to just blast it all to hell....

Most boats aren't really hit. A direct hit of this magnitude will melt a
metal mast, vaporizing a lot or all of it instantly. A direct hit
doesn't follow any grounding straps that are also vaporized instantly.
It came 10 MILES to that unfortunate mast and goes straight out the
bottom of what's left of it, straight through the hull, no matter what
material it's made of, and will create a hole around 4' across in wood,
fiberglass, plastic, shingled roof, etc. Your little boat is
insignificant to it all. We're talking Megajoules of energy in
microseconds.

What the grounding system will bypass is the static buildup or "St Elmo's
Fire" to the overhead cloud that may spark off the mast creating
electronic havoc aboard. It's pretty good doing that as long as there's
no SHARP, NEAT CORNERS the beautiful people love to put in everything so
it looks wonderful.

Here's some great pictures and movies for you to ponder from the
broadcast and power industry....
http://wvlightning.com/tower.shtml
http://sky-fire.tv/index.cgi/lightning.html
http://www.jampro.com/tech/NARTE.pdf