(The following tragic story was sent in by Capt Mick Gurley.  It relates the events that took place during Hurricane Gordon when "New Moon," was struck by a massive lightning bolt.  Mick takes us through the disbelieve, the helplessness and finally the reality that the boat he had built he his charter business on, was ... gone.)
 

    On Sept 17, 2002 at approximately 6 am, the last band of thunderstorms from Hurricane Gordon had passed across Sanibel and Captiva Islands on the lower West coast of Florida. New Moon, the 1976 Pearson 35, hull #348, was anchored off in Roosevelt Channel.   Winds blew steady at 50 - 60 knots from the South. Lightning was everywhere and nobody ventured outside, especially during this predawn time of morning. The horrible fear of all sailboat owners was about to become a reality for Mick.

   
     A single mighty bolt, the thunderbolt from God, the Golden BB, stuck from miles up and found a point of discharge at the masthead of "New Moon."  It issued forth a horrid bang and sent one huge trainload of current down the aluminum mast into the cabin head.  The bolt of lightning consumed "New Moon's" salon and burned all that came within feet of discharge.

     The sink in the head was blown off of the counter and the electric head (toilet) was melted into a mass of plastic and porcelain. The breaker panel by the companion way was charred and sagging down from the intensive heat of the strike. The smallest thru hull fitting on the boat, the 3/8" head intake by the mast compression post, was the ultimate discharge path for the massive current bolt seeking ground.  It had separated at the inside of the hull from the pipe thread and on top of the silicone casketing material.

     Just a small hole you would think, only 3/8 of an inch ID, not too much pressure below the water line, think again.
 

Flooding Rates of Various Size Holes At Differing Depths

(gpm)

     Using the above table, New Moon could have been taking in 3.4 gallons of sea water a minute.
 

    That rule bilge pump that was wired directly to the house batterers, had the potential capacity to take care of this flow.  The only problem was that a side leader from the main lightning bolt had taken out the house batteries.  The battery posts on all three house batteries looked like a blob of chocolate on a sunny day.  The bilge pump was not working... 

     As the unabated water level rose above that shinny 1976 cabin sole, other seemingly normal things begin to become critical problems.  The head sink drain, an innocuous thru hull fitting which many of us don't think of since its above the water line (99% of the time), could now allow water in at a tremendous rate.  The hose had been ruptured by Thor's bolt when the sink exploded. Trying to put this into words still, a week later, brings tears to my eyes and a pain in my heart.

     Dennis a friend of mine, was out in his bay tug, checking on the boats anchored in the "protected" area of Captiva's bay.  He called my home around 7:50am and said, "Mick, she's going down, the water's already up to the gunnels."  I said we were on our way and flew to the dock, six miles in 7 minutes.  Myself and my girlfriend Leigh, of countless years and a captain in her own right, ran down to the dock in a torrential hurricane downpour and leapt onboard the MS Captiva (the bay tug) while Dennis took us out to New Moon. 

     She was right where I left her but just a little lower in the water.  I jumped onboard and pried open the main hatch boards.   Just above the level of the rushing water was my Garmin 45 GPS, still in its holder.  I snatched it and passed it over to Leigh and remember saying, "Well, at least we saved something." 

     The P35 was headed toward the bottom (shallow as it was) and all I could think about was the possible things had I done wrong.  I hadn't even looked up at the mast head at this point of the confusion.  When I did manage to look up, I found that the top six feet of the mast was black with burn marks and the roller furling had melted to the upper mast.  The furler was a dynafurl twinstay, a solid rod extrusion type.  Some might recall that type of model.  It proved to be a great system on New Moon (was a great system).  No wires, just solid aluminum and bearings.

     The rest of that day was a blur as it turned into a Vodka breakfast followed by a Bourbon lunch.  The next day I obtained a two inch pump from a boat rental operator at South Seas Plantation and started pumping out New Moon at low tide.  "Just plug the deck holes and pray you get more out than in," everybody was saying.  Lots of help that morning from all the fishing guides and dock hands in the area. Three hours later New moon floated again and was back at the dock.

     It was then up to the insurance company and anybody else who wanted to get a piece of the claim pie.  What a mess the boat was in.  Mud everywhere and no end to cleaning in sight. The hurricane was history and the sun was out.   Mud was drying on everything and boy did it stink!!  Dead fish and critters in and on everything.  It was time to get the back hoe to empty the boat out. 

     Of course I had just replaced the Westerbeke 30 with a W-38b4 and did my best to pickle the beast.  No rest for the weary.

     A 2000 psi pressure sprayer proved a great tool for removing the undergrowth from inside the cabin after an ordeal like this.  All I have to say is wear a diving mask when spraying!!  After 10 hours of cleaning it still looked like it had been on the bottom.  Needless to say, I was a wreak... No boat, no job, no customers and out of business.   Depression? Of course!!

    Cutting to the chase, the insurance Company surveyed it after I towed it into the yard and totaled it.  I felt awful and responsible since I'm the captain and the buck stops here.  It took two months and more than a handful of friendly neighborhood counseling sessions to get me back on the road (water) to sailing.  I started checking out the 3dub (internet) for another P35.  But I couldn't find one with any soul.  You know how your boat talks to you and lets you know what 's going on inside. 

     I did however see a 1977, P-39 listed and she yelled at me and said, "I need to go sailing!"
 

Capt. Mick Gurley
PO 352
Captiva Island, Florida
33924
www.newmoonsailing.com
mick@newmoonsailing.com
888-472-7245  tf
239-395-1782  v
239-472-3173  fx
 

Excellent Resources for Lightning & Boats

Lightning & Sailboats

Dr. Ewen M. Thomson

University of Florida

If you were only going to read one article
on Lightning and boats this would be the one to digest.
(Off Site Link)

Video on Lightning & Sailboats

A 22 min video produced by Dr. Ewen M. Thomson.
(Off Site link)

ABYC Position on Lightning Protection on Boats

(Off site Link)
 

Strickshield

(Off site Link)
 

Strickshield

(Off site Link)
 

Forespar Dissipater

(Off site Link)
 

Great Lightning Research Pictures

What follows is based on the recommendations for lightning protection provided by the American Boat & Yacht Council, Standard E4. 

     The primary purpose of a lightning protection system is to provide for the physical safety of all aboard your vessel. Prudent actions that should be taken during an electrical storm are:

1) If at all possible remain in the cabin of a closed boat.

2) No one should be in the water or have any part of their body immersed in the water.

3) Do not come into contact with any components connected to the lightning protection system of a properly protected vessel. Otherwise your body could act as a conductive bridge between any items connected to the lightning conductive system. For example, you should not be in simultaneous contact with a metal steering wheel and a metal stern pulpit. 

     A good lightning protective system ensures that all large masses of metal are electrically connected. This purpose should not be confused with that of the vessel's basic bonding system. A properly installed and isolated bonding system is there to provide a low resistance electrical path to reduce electrolytic corrosion and as a measure of personal protection if there is an electrical fault in the boat's AC/DC electrical systems. 

     If your sailboat is a vessel with an aluminum mast you have the starting point of a well-grounded lightning rod. This will provide a zone of protection for a radius around its base equal to the height of the lightning rod. Due to some vessels overall length, it may be necessary to install another lightning rod to encompass any areas that do not fall within the zone of protection. Don't forget that the mast itself must be physically bonded or connected through to the common ground - one of the keel bolts or if a encapsulated keel, to the grounding plate, in order to provide optimum protection. 

     The apex of the rod should be a minimum of six inches above any masthead device. The end should be sharpened to a point. The base of the mast or the mast step if metal, should be connected to a keel bolt on externally ballasted vessels. The preferred wire gauge is No. 6 or even better, #4AWG stranded copper. In no case should such a connection be made to a vessel with internal ballast. The result could be a hole blown through the bottom of the hull. Boats with internal ballast should have a copper ground plate of at least one square foot in size installed externally on the hull bottom. The grounding wire should then be connected to the ground plate. 

     All wire conductors should be kept as straight as possible. All large metal objects above and below decks should also be electrically tied into the lightning ground conductor. This is a precaution against side flashes. Large metal objects include shrouds, chainplates, toe rails, sail tracks, winches, steering wheels, and bow and stern pulpits. These items can be tied into the ground conductor wire by a minimum #8AWG stranded copper gauge wire, or connected directly to the hull ground terminus. 

     A thorough inspection of the lightning protection system should be conducted on an annual basis as part of normal maintenance procedure. All connections should be maintained tight and corrosion free. Any corrosion will impede the flow of electricity and promote side flashes. For that reason it is important that the lightning protection system receive the same attention as the rest of the systems aboard the vessel. This should be included as a part of the annual lay-up and maintenance procedure.

For additional details regarding the lightning protection standards readers should refer to American Boat and Yacht Standard E-4

Source: The Marine Advisor, Spring 2001r: