[thefishingfreak]

don't know if anyone else ever expierienced this
i was anchored out about 3 miles off the beach on a drizly day not much wind or rain -no thunderstorms coming but grey and dreary
i could here static electricity coming from the outriggers at the top .so first thing i did was lower the riggers but then the noise started to come off the radio antenna, at a higher pitch,so i lowered that too.then the static noise switched to the small cell phone antenna at even a higher pitch but when i reached for it i got zapped ,not badly ,but i got zapped
i thought i was about to be hit by ligtning ,not a good thought, but i couldn't do anything .i thought it might have something to do with bieng anchored, maybey the wet anchor line hooked into the bottom?, so i cut the rode and started drifting still the same.
then it started to rain a little bit and it all stoped
what the heck was it?
was i about to get hit by ligtning?
this has happened a couple times

 

[Capthookem]

Strange Spirit

Freak,
Was the original owner of the boat murdered on that boat ??

Capt. H

 

[Tunatoys]

If it had been night you would have seen that you had Saint Elmo's Fire on the riggers.
T.T.

 

[Surf Dweller]

Did Mulder, or Skully show up shortly afterwards

 

[spygull]

St elmos fire

Had a similar event in the 60s while fishing in the bay on a calm humid morning with a slight overcast. only difference was I had a basketball sized ball of blueish light hanging on the tip of my long wave antenna. Positive electrons dischargeing into the negitive atmosphere. Under the right condititions you could be getting set up for a lightning strike. "Scared the S--T out of us."

 

[MIKE TUNA]

If you experance this its a good idea to disconnect your electronics . it will save your electronics in case of a strike .
I've experanced this and disconnected my electronics about one minute before a blast by the front my boat a 31 Jersy many years ago . It looked like a Frankenstien Movie along the railing at the same time the blast hit . Thank God nobody got hurt . I wrote about this experance but will have to find it . If I do I will post it .

Mike Tuna

 

[MakoMatt]

fishingfreak, you mentioned that this had happened 2 times, very unusual to get struck by lightning 1 time, never mind twice, but it sounds to me like that was what it was building to.

MakoMatt

 

[thefishingfreak]

happend on the old 22 footer and on my new 30 footer a couple years apart
i also got something similar when wire line trolling in a rain storm getting a small shock from the reel when you touched anything metal on the boat
i never got hit by lightning but this scares the sh-t out of you for sure

 

[MakoMatt]

fishingfreak, you should play Lotto.

makomatt

 

[Fishmeister]

another story, lol!!!
i was fishing merrick bay, 4 or 5 years ago, labor day with a friend, 1st time on a boat...lol, poor *******!
anyways the sky was grey, and the breeze completely stopped, and it got very, very humid... i looked up and saw the storm clouds some 20 or so miles in the horizion, but looking directly above me were things i will never forget;
remember the movie twister? in the beginning she says to him...wow, they're really spiking today? well above me and all around me were puffy clouds....OF PURPLE, BROWN, AND PINK.
she says to me, Tony, I think a storms comin, just like in the movie, my reply was... Mary, the storms already here!!!
like clockwork, outta nowhere lightning everywhere, and gale + winds... horazontal rains to boot.threw the boat up on land FROM THE CHANNEL!!! snapped the outdrive, and completely ripped off the bimini, side, aft covers, and into the wind they went...never recovered!!!
holy cow batman, i couldnt imagine that ever happening 20+ miles out in the ocean...
turned on 16, and they were giving out tornado warnings over nassau cnty.
scared the s--t out of me and her, i think her loud prayers enabled me to get the chance to write this!!! lol

 

[paulh]

when you touch things on your boat and get a mild shock it means you have an electrical problem and probably water on deck to boot ( no pun intended).

I've experienced this on some of my own boats and some others that i've been on. I've been shocked while touching 1) steering wheels, 2) stainless spotlight, 3) shark leaders, hanging in the water, etc, etc.

The problem is typically a bad ground and / or improper bonding.

Beware, besides the shock you're probably eating away underwater hardware due to electrolysis.

Read much about St Elmo's fire but have not seen it first hand. This was fairly common in the rigging of sailing ships and would last for some time. Not sure if lightening in the area was prerequisite for this or not ?

I've heard other accounts by people in lightening environments whose hair has stood up, and the air took on a smell of ozone, prior to a bolt either hitting the boat or somewhere close by.

Lightening is my single biggest fear while boating, tough to duck this stuff. An old trick is to turn on an AM radio, it will alert you to lightening interference long before you can ever see it coming.

Many of our summer thunderstorms come from west to east, when the Mets or Yanks go into rain delay during a hot summer day and your on the south shore beware, you're likely to get it.

Good Luck !!

 

[Fishmeister]

AM RADIO???
wow, thats a good one, have to jot that reminder down!!!
thanks

 

[no clue]

Lightening

I have been offshore and caught in a severe electrical storm only once. and once was enough, But just out of curiosity, aside from riding it out and lowering the antenna,s what else can you do? anyone??

 

[Fishmeister]

how about makin use outta what you got onboard?
take some stainless wire or monel, and twist it around yer big toe, and drop the remaining 299 yards over the side to use as a ground wire...
after the lightning strikes,
try holding a 100 watt lightbulb in one hand if you happen to lose the lights, and with the other hand touch the horn. eventually someone will either see or hear you!!!

 

[paulh]

Two schools of thought, -

1) Larger Boat (multiple antennas, aluminum tower, etc) - Provide a low resistance electrical path that will help to safely route the current from a strike into the sea and away from people, explosive devices (fuel) and sensitive electronics (via a grounding plate and heavy duty electrical bonding). This is the concept behind the lightening rod. Unfortunately, this path will actually "attract" lightening, but MAY keep you safe if you are struck. Disconnect your antenna cables anyway, they provide a parallel path which lowers your apparent resistance.

2) Small Boat - Provide a minimal path (maximum resistance) so that lightening is not "attracted" to your vessel in the first place. Have a low profile boat, lower and disconnect antennas, no tower, rocket launchers, etc, etc. Stay low.

Another thought, many outboard powered boats have no grounding plates, and are only "grounded" when the outboard(s) is/are in the water, tilting the motor(s) UP should increase your apparent resistance and decrease the chance of a lightening strike.

(This post edited by paulh on 02/19/2003)

(This post edited by paulh on 02/19/2003)

 

[618412]

Grounding......

The best thing you can do for your protection is to ground every piece of
Metal, stainless rails, out riggers,
Window frames, all electronics including your antenna?s to a bonding plate to the bottom of your boat.
Lowering your antenna?s is the best thing to do, but I would leave the out riggers up, this gives you a better cone of protection. lightning starts
From above and just before it reaches ground a bolt shoots up to make the connection, if your boat is in the spot where the lightning bolts up you are now the path that meets the bolt coming down. With the out riggers up you stand a better chance of dissipating the charge than to have it hit your antenna.
Because all the power is focused on such a small area that voltage goes up
Exponentially. I was in a thunder storm
with my cc and was holding on to the
hand rail when I heard thunder over head. The hand rail picked up
induction from the lightning and I couldn?t let go for 5 or 6 seconds till it dissipated, after that I bonded every piece of rail and every piece of metal on my boat to a ground plate that I bought at E&B marine. I used heavy 2/0 stranded cable for bonding and never had a problem with induced current again and it made my electronics work a lot better.

(This post edited by matrix1 on 02/21/2003)

 

[koolkats]

Came back from fluke fishing by RM Bridge on my 20' Grady. Went to put away my tackle in my shed.(steel)When I touched the metal handle to open the door, I got this tingling shock. My son & nephew who also went fishing with me, also got shocked. After about an hour or so, we did not get shocked again. Sometimes I would feel this tingling feeling while holding the metal steering wheel on my boat. Can't figure it out!

 

[thefishingfreak]

stray current somewhere

on those wet days you get shocked there must be a chaffed wire somewhere and the electricity is looking for a better path then the one its on
like paulh said erlyier

 

[MIKE TUNA]

Lightening is very unpredicable . This building that I worked in had lightening arresters on the roof only nobody told the Bolt thats what it was suppose to hit them . It blasted the side of the building causing much damage .

Freeport Shark Torny years back had a 30' plus boat hit . The blast ran into the cabin shocking everyone on board . Nobody was seriously injured as far as I remember but a shocking experance to say the least . ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ scary stuff .

They do have detectors that can pick up static charges in the air that can give warning of a potential strikes . Similiar to the ones they use to use on the Trade Center before men had to work on the antennas on the roof .

Best advice is If this is predicted get out of there . The other day I saw an add on ebay a guy was selling all his new electrionics as is that were damaged from a strike in florida . Good deal if they can be repaired . I guess he forgot to disconnect them durring a lightening storm .

MIke Tuna



MIke Tuna

 

[thefishingfreak]

graphite {lightning}rods

i heard some where that you shouldn't use a graphite rod during a storm