Cruising Sailors Forum Archive

I didn't have any charred damage
In Response To: Clerification to my Q ()

Except the VHF antenna (see photo). When my boat was struck, the electronic failures showed no burn marks, except the stainless whip antenna which melted. The PL-259 connector somehow unscrewed itself and went missing even though it was tightly taped. The VHF radio and antenna wire were not visibly damaged. The radar was not damaged, but the hailer speaker mounted just beneath the radome failed, and so did the steaming light but not the masthead light. The masthead windex was blown to smithereens (I found fragments on deck) but the Raymarine wind sensor still worked. Damage to integrated circuits was not visible. I have a circuit board sitting in front of me that was one of the failures, and the damage was internal to diodes and IC chips, no burnt components or traces visible.

It's difficult to predict lightning -- the damage seemed to jump all around. Most of the Raymarine instruments were either flaky or non-functioning. The diode harness in the engine controls got fried. I saw what appeared to be a weld spot at the stainless base of the mast, but that might have been there from manufacture and I just never noticed it prior.

I don't think you can generalize about lightning damage or predict lightning.

Messages In This Thread