"Twilliam" wrote in
oups.com:

tall aluminum protrusion on a flat body of water

Didja ever notice how perfectly sane, and seemingly intelligent people will
abandon the cockpit, away from the mast, during a thunderstorm and retire
inside the cabin to sit within 3' of the base of a 60' tall, ungrounded
lightning rod?

Unfortunately, in Lionheart there's no place but the V-berth. The masts
are deck stepped, one directly over the main cabin's forward bulkhead and
the mizzen lightning rod sits on a base at the back of the cockpit, about
3' from the helmsman's head! I've been in thunderstorms having strange
feelings about being shot through with lightning jumping off the bottom of
the mizzen, going in my back and out my sternum into the grounded helm
wheel I'm holding made out of fine stainless steel.

It'd be over in a flash, I suppose...(c;

--
Larry