On our fishing boat we wrap a chain around the tower leg and drop the other end into the water.

Dock it next to a blow boat, we all know what the lightning is going to hit!

Isn't fiberglass an insulator? I wouldn't want anything connected because the more you connect, the larger "field" you create to attract the electricity. Keep as flat a surface as possible and you won't be on lightning's radar...

Yes, but so is air, doesn't matter that much when you are talking about lightning.

Kind of like thinking those rubber tires would protect you in a steel car after the electricity just traveled a mile in the air, it's going to hit the highest object.

:evilb:

actually parking next to a blow boat is an almost certain mistake for the same reason you should not stand next to a tree during a storm. When lightning hits, what is not dispersed through whatever ground is available is spread out in a cone from the point of the strike i believe the phenomenon is called a Tesla cone.

When lightning flashes through fiberglass carbon is split from the materiel and forms a conductive path. Somewhere i have an article and will try and find it.

That doesnt work.. like I posted, it fried a couple of my gauges being 6' away from it... Id hate to thinkwhat would have happened if it was one of the newer all electronic boats.

here it is, some good stuff in this.

http://www.marinelightning.com/EXCHANGEOct2007Final.pdf

Staying in a marina or beached on an island during a storm doesn't scare me. There's always something taller and you can get shelter in the cabin. It's being out on the water when a storm catches you. I'm afraid that getting hit by lightning while driving is going to kill you no matter what you do to ground the boat. These boats are just too small and you are too close to avoid the electricity. That's my theory, expert knowledge is always appreciated

It's not the tires, it's the Faraday Cage aspect of the metal frame conducting the electricity around the perimeter.

Dave, the article says that the carbon split "may" be a problem on future strikes. So if you run a conductor along the hull and the lighting wants out somewhere along the way, then the fiberglass in that area needs to have the carbon removed.

You don't want electricity traveling "through" the boat, but around it. Put up a bunch of spikes with battery wires dangling into the water. :D

Sorry guys the blow boat comment was a joke,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Sorry about the miss understanding.