Can Anything Stop Lightning?

[@williamwerner]

I worked for 15 years at a leading avionics company where our systems were highly integrated and just about everything was electronic. They went to great depths on designing the electronics to withstand lightning strikes. This included testing the equipment during the design and development phase to ensure it met the design objectives. Maybe the companies that develop nautical electronics could improve the lightning protection of their products.

[@heavygaming8993]

Have you seen the wiring people do on sailboats? it's a nightmare, even on some of the newer stuff.

[@williamwerner]

@@heavygaming8993 no I haven’t 😲

[@enja001]

​@@williamwernerit makes an 80s Mercedes Benz look nice

[@toddjones1403]

Great content! Bringing us non-sailor’s a topic and information that keeps us rivited and coming back for more each Sunday. My dad, who was an electrical engineer, always said lightning doesn’t follow rules-it make’s it’s own.

[@angelahislop4569]

Loved this... We use the trick of putting chains to our side stays and drop them in the water whenever there is a storm as it defuse the lightning, also one from the bottom of the mast. Cheapest version available 😁👍🏴‍☠️

[@traveller9625]

My company used this technology 35 years ago to protect natural gas installations on mountain areas, not gas wells but compressor stations,. these location had for years have been prone to lighting strikes. It wasn't cheap but each install came with a 1 mill insurance policy. Never had a strike since they where installed. Luv you guys, can't wait for the new boat. BTW we called it the magic hubcap.

[@electricboatal]

I have a lot of experience with lightning protection. I was an arborist and installed quite a lot in trees. Same problem different materials. I had vertical bronze fingers mounted to the top of each tree with additional finger’s mounted in the canopy branch’s. Typically five bronze fingers all connected to the down cable of braided bronze about 1/2” in diameter and I would run two of them to the ground. One on each side. They were connected to a grid of cables with as many as ten copper ground rods driven radially around the tree out the drip edge. The trees were well protected and I never had any additional damage to a tree after installation. Your system is incredibly simple with just a few ground plates and only one cable from the mast. If I were in your shoes I would definitely install the protection. It is pretty scary getting caught out in a storm without it. It happened once when I was in my early teens while delivering a trimaran to Vancouver Island from San Diego. We lost everything except the sails so we at least could get it back not port. Good Luck Al Hartley

[@dancarter482]

FASCINATING! Retired arborist here, never seen lightning protection in trees but plenty of storm damaged - one in particular had 50% leaf failure - on inspection turned out to be lightning strike that had traveled through Victorian cable-bracing. I could see entry and exit burn paths clearly.

[@michaelneedham5607]

Carl's suggestion of a localized Faraday cage using metal mesh is logical. I read that the charge that builds up in salt water during a storm is concentrated near the surface so I moved the grounding plates to 12 inches from the waterline. Had plates of copper sheet vs dynaplates below the shrouds and the mast. A catamaran, inboard the hulls from aluminum mast and outboard the hulls below the shrouds. An upgrade would have been to ground the headstay. Never was struck in 50 years of sailing, thank God. Good sailing to all you youngsters!

[@fredfleming8905]

Just a question, in your 50 years of sailing approximately how many lightening storms did you encounter?

[@michaelneedham5607]

@@fredfleming8905 Hi Fred. Many storms. Probably 20+ at least. Also sailed 20 years on merchant ships which being steel are faraday cages and are routinely struck without any effect on electronics as are aircraft.

[@fredfleming8905]

@@michaelneedham5607 very good I’ve wondered how a good lighting strike damage protection device would work on water. Thanks for info.

[@michaelneedham5607]

@@fredfleming8905 The behavior of lightning strikes on non metal sailboats seems to be not completely understood. Powerful radio frequency pulses which can destroy solid state electronics are generated by electrical arcing. Those fields are blocked by a Faraday cage.

[@fredfleming8905]

@@michaelneedham5607 It is like EMP (electromagnetic pulse) the Faraday shield will provide some level of protection but not sure if the amps could get so high it would arc through the Faraday shield. Since everything in micro circuits today they are very vulnerable to EMP….also vulnerable to a bad CME. Have a great day.

[@nooneanybodyknows7912]

So, glad you covered lightning. 🌩 Thanks for sharing.

[@TheDjRaven175]

I've been watching your productions since the beginning. You continually get better and better at your craft. Well done and thank you!

[@patmitskey839]

And.... BETTER AND BETTER!!!! Great comet Partner 💯👌👍

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

Florida is the lightning capital of North America thanks to its geography. Florida’s peninsula is surrounded by water that is relatively cooler than the afternoon temperatures over land. Land temperatures reach the upper 80s and 90s on a daily basis due to it being so far south towards the equator. Land heats up quickly compared to the water and temperatures will reach the low 90s by early afternoon. The warm air over the land begins to rise high up into the atmosphere while the cooler air over the water sinks. The rising motion of the air over the land pulls in the cooler air from the water to fill the void. This phenomenon is called the sea-breeze and occurs on both Floridian coasts The sea breeze acts as a “mini cold front” and showers and thunderstorms develop along it as it moves inland. Thunderstorms easily develop with plenty of moisture in the atmosphere each day, again thanks to Florida being so far south and surrounded by water. As temperatures heat up each afternoon, there is a lot of energy for thunderstorms to use up, grow tall and produce excessive lightning.

[@hvacmike1175]

Actually Texas has the most strikes ( over 27,000,000strikes per year). Florida has the most strikes per square mile.

[@mariannefaulkner3445]

@@hvacmike1175 What is the average depth of the water table in Texas? Are there deep veins / shelves of water under topography? Curious .

[@jeffbeifuss8385]

I know it's been a few days and you guys don't usually look at comments this old, but I'll comment anyway. Jason, that was a great attaboy on your Mom's insurance company for leaving her claim open for as long as she needed it to be. It's so fashionable to slam insurance companies for their poor claim handling, so it's heartening to hear a company (even unnamed) that is doing right by their customers. Thanks.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Not having to do with the catamaran, but it reminds me of Disney World and how much the Imagineers have made the resort "Florida-proof". Disney World has hundreds of hidden lightning rods within the parks. Two of them is on Cinderella Castle in Magic Kingdom and on the Tower of Terror at Hollywood Studios. The Tower of Terror rod is actually quite fitting as the ride's story goes that a paranormal lightning strike from the fifth dimension affected the hotel's elevator on Halloween 1939 and it sent hotel guests to their death. Another way they Florida-proofed the parks is that the hotels and buildings within the parks have been built strong enough to handle different categories of hurricanes. They've really gone above and beyond!

[@barryl1072]

I worked in a building that had constant issue with lightning strikes and electrical problems (in Florida). Our solution was very similar by bonding and grounding the building and installing what I call fuzzy wire balls that were connected to the ground. I never say it, but others said they saw a glow from the fuzzy balls when an electrical storm passed. It was all designed to dissipate the electrical charge that followed a storm in the ground with the opposite electrical charge in the air, minimizing a lightning strike. After this system was installed, our electrical issues virtually stopped.

[@lpettet1]

Sailing Dauntless just installed something like that, if not the exact first product you mentioned. Same theory: make the boat invisible to lightening.

[@webheadusa9377]

Clark is an electrical engineer living on a boat for about 30 years. This episode might be worth the time to watch. "LIGHTNING Hits Boats. Here's How to Deal With It [Capable Cruising Guides] Ion Disipator " - Emily & Clark's Adventure . I can't provide the link because the post will be removed, but I'll provide a link in a reply just in case it won't be deleted. Best, :¬) Webhead USA

[@webheadusa9377]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqbVfnptgK2XjZY

[@mikebarron5805]

It's been a long time since I've viewed any of Emly & Clark's videos, but it would be nice if YT would let you give me the link so I can watch that one. (Fingers crossed.☺)

[@kirenireves]

I second the recommendation for Clark's video. Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqbVfnptgK2XjZY

[@Iluvchknz]

@@mikebarron5805 type in the name of the Chanel and lightening hits boat. It will take you directly to the video. Happy Sunday.

[@johnnylightning1491]

Thanks for the heads up, it was a good video even though the only boat I own is a 14 ft fishing boat it was interesting.

[@leemiller2811]

Wowzer. You two have so much to manage. Grateful you do so much research and are proactive. 🌺

[@user-od9iz9cv1w]

I saw something like this through Tampa Electric. My firm was supplying communications gear to them. Being in the lightning center of America, they had a bunch of expertise at isolating sensitive equipment from lightning. Among other things, they used a similar approach on their infrastructure to repel strikes. They had super slow motion movies of lightning strikes. The strike always starts from the ground and goes up. The connection is made to the potential and the strike completes the circuit to ground. The other thing they had become really good at was galvanic isolation. Anywhere there is communications use fibre optics to replace copper to eliminate a path to the equipment. It strikes me all these expensive systems should have really good (expensive) surge protection, grounding and optical communications.

[@deraneaton2576]

Jason, Nikki -- Excellent episode on the practical side. Wearing my electrical engineer's hat: The electrical resistance from the masthead to terra aqua ground (i.e., anodes in the water) must be nearly a short circuit (under 10 ohms) to bleed off the strike's triggering ions to ground. That's what Nikola Tasla's patent shows, and is the science behind lightning protection systems. For boats on the hard, bonding a cable to an Earth ground post (as is done with houses and other buildings) does much the same thing. The lightning strike basically turns a metal mast into a heating and electrocution element for everything around it -- which causes fires wherever the overloaded, overheated electrical stuff is. St. Elmo's Fire is another form of lightning, when enough charge builds up in the standing rigging to make the air glow. Let's also consider: Carbon fiber composite is electrically conductive (depending upon how it's laminated and assembled, but the fibers definitely so) -- and carbon burns rather easily. Don't take my word for it: Carbon is near Silicon on the Periodic Table -- and silicon is in every piece of digital electronics. Here's another wrinkle: When your electronics are shot, leaning to use a sextant and compute corrections still makes sense. Old school still works -- one reason I bring few pricey electronics aboard Windwalker when the forecast calls for games of 'dodge squall'. Blessings, S/V Windwalker

[@carlnelson8927]

Instead of a sextant I keep a spare old tablet unplugged in a Faraday bag. Costs less than a quality sextant and much more accurate.

[@deraneaton2576]

@carlnelson8927 The old tablet is still a glass house, and fully charged going into the bag risks being neglected there. Don't need to recharge a sextant, either, plus it doesn't have battery terminal nodes that corrode in salt fog typical of marine conditions.

[@ArlVaCitizen]

Very timely and well presented video. Just attended a presentation by a sailor who on a repositioning journey had the sailboat hit by lightning that disturbed and made useless all electronics, including handheld PEDs. They spent 4 days without comms and Nav in a tropical storm trying to get to Florida. All souls and the vessel made it to shore safe and sound. One of many considerations would be to keep PEDs in a faraday pouch.

[@3Dprint4you]

Love the Wynns and cant wait to see the new boat! Happy Sunday guys love ya!

[@rjtumble]

Is it cheaper to install on a new build? Which obviously leads to a follow up video after you talk to HH about putting on yours. Great video, thanks!

[@sunshinethrutheice8554]

I was thinking that too. Or at least set up the boat for a future installation of that cable from the mast. That part sounded like the most expensive and labor-intensive part of doing this.

[@laurence9695]

I hope you're talking to Colin on Parlay Revival. He got struck twice in the past year... fried all tge electric, and the electronics, but he didn't have much in way of those.

[@dennisolive4741]

I think this an example of how Nikola Tesla should be honored as one of the greatest geniuses of all time. How he got screwed by Westinghouse, J.P. Morgan, and others is a crying shame. He lost everything to these hustlers and ended up with nothing after all he gave to humanity. And what is amazing is he did all of this before the twentieth century!

[@windmedic]

Please don’t stand under a tree while it’s raining; especially in Florida. As your friendly Florida “unofficial” firefighter/paramedic fan, I can’t tell you enough about how this is a terrible idea….many golfers can attest to this as well…We want you around for many more years to inspire and inform us!

[@markus717]

OK, but if you stand in the middle of a field or green, aren't you going to be the highest spot there?

[@shnorman1]

I’ve wondered about a similar situation in a boat on a lake. Is it better in open water or near the shore among trees that are much taller?

[@windmedic]

@@markus717 if you are caught in the middle of a field in a lightning storm… first you should reevaluate your ability to monitor the weather. Second you should squat where you are Until you feel the strikes have slowed down to make a break for the nearest structure.

[@carlbeaver7112]

Why is everyone surprised that lighning rods work? On a boat the main issue is once a strike occurs it needs to be directed to the water. The copper plates, a steel chain into the water, etc. have been used. This isn't new tech. If you have a locker full of electronics surround it with sheet metal that also grounds to the water (Faraday cage.) Same with cabling, there are metal mesh wraps available. It all adds cost but you have to roll your own dice and consider how freaked you'll be 17 days from land with nothing but a compass and a sextant (that you are hopefully proficient using.)

[@ducbox572]

This solution seems different from a lightning rod. A rod attracts the strike to then channel it, through dedicated cables and ground plates, to ground. Subsequently, vital cables and equipment are protected via the cone of protection. This system seems to try and dissipate the charge diffential and prevent formation of the leader. Faraday cages are effective for portable electronics like phones and hand-held radios, the most electronics are still connected through power and signal cables.

[@patrickjames1080]

Would a carbon fiber mast make a difference?

[@jazz1on]

​@@patrickjames1080 No

[@maartenvanrossen6138]

There are solutions for power and signal. Although surge protectors might not be good for a direct hit. Glass fibre data cables will never conduct.

[@fmaz1952]

This is not a lightning rod. It claim to deplete ion and prevent the lightning from striking the boat entirely.

[@davidmessersmith786]

Two interesting points of information I have come across over the years. I once had a master electrician rewire my breaker panel whole it was live to the house. He had the proper PPE to protect himself from either a short circuit from the main or just leaking current from the bus bar. His gloves and coveralls included a copper mesh woven inner weave in his material that is designed to carry the current around him to the ground. Quite amazing material. It was flexible and he was able to manage his work quite well. Another is that a ran across an ionizing device once that generated positive ions to purposely counteract negative ions being generated by a nearby field for a reason I no longer remember. The purpose was to prevent accidental discharges nearby very similar to a lighting strike. Curious that the Tesla device you mention is basically doing the same although seemingly passively rather than actively. Seems if you were to generate the opposite ions actively, it would affect a larger area of protection as it would eliminate a larger field of opposite ions. And a final point, seems that designers could include a conductive mesh under or within a carbon fiber shell, mast, etc to conduct any current away from sensitive electronics. Once built in, it just needs wiring to get it to the grounding plated. It would be cool to watch the testing in a big warehouse bay/pool with a Hugh Tesla generator!

[@Backnine907]

I installed a Hawkeye 25 (CMCE25) on our cat. Easy to install and only cost $5250 installed. One boat moored very close to us last year was struck, we were fine. There were two strikes in our marina and we were fine. So far so good, but like you said "does it really work?" who knows but using the Hawkeye, they guarantee you up to $50K in damages IF you have one properly installed along with the same if you are on the hard and the boat is properly grounded.

[@user-vb8mf3vo3l]

This felt like a training video - in a good way - if you ever need a 2nd gig, do some corporate training vids! You have a good presence on film for those to keep people engaged.

[@BB_Chaptsick]

Whoa, look at the HH jacket! Nice. Interesting topic. Amazing to hear about the cost of lightening strikes. Good to see you both. See you next week. Be safe.

[@gonewiththewynns]

This HH is Helly Hansen, a well known foul weather gear maker, not the catamaran HH. Curious Minion

[@BB_Chaptsick]

@@gonewiththewynns Oh, well, thank you for the info. Be safe

[@mikebarron5805]

@@gonewiththewynns lol, And here I was thinking that HH Yachts had ponied up for some nice advertising with the cost of your new vessel. 😂

[@BB_Chaptsick]

@@mikebarron5805 That is exactly what I thought. Glad I wasn’t alone.

[@johnnylightning1491]

I've had one experience with a lightning strike. I was at a friend of mine's house sitting on his couch during a thunder storm. There was a bolt of lightning and we said something like, that was close. It actually lit up the room. As it turns out it wasn't just close it actually came in the room we were in. He had an external TV antenna and the strike traveled down the antenna wire and fried one or two of his components in his stereo/TV rack. It also seems like it sent a bolt across the room that hit a couple of feet away from me but we never did find anything like burn marks. It was interesting and kind of scary after the fact because it happens so fast, literally at the speed of light, that you don't think about it until it's over with. Keep the good stuff coming guys and I'd get on of those thing-a-ma-bobs for the mast. Maybe you can get HH to put the wiring in before your boat is done and reduce some of the installation cost.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

While Florida may be the lightning capital of North America, the lightning capital of the world is...Lake Maracaibo in northern Venezuela! Lake Maracaibo gets around 1.2 MILLION lightning bolts EVERY year or 233 flashes of lightning per SQUARE MILE per year! How? Lake Maracaibo is the northern part of the Andes mountains. Storms commonly form there at night as mountain breezes develop and converge over the warm, moist air over the lake. These unique conditions contribute to the development of persistent deep convection resulting in an average of 297 nocturnal thunderstorms per year. The lake is also the reason why Venezuela is oil-rich, so it DOES have a benefit!

[@Philhoppermiller]

I am glad you found a solution to the problem, well maybe. I am an electrician and have installed lightning rods on homes. Mostly on homes built on iron ore hills. They do work. But if you are ever hit by lightning, it will scare the "bejeves" out of you. They say that only one in a million is going to be hit by lightning. Well, I am that one. I was hit indirectly while working in the rain on a tall machine that was hit. Most of the electricity went to ground through wires dragging on the ground. I was holding an insulated wire and I was wet from the rain. The water got some of the electricity.

[@mickymoto100]

Planes have been using this for years. static wicks are on all sizes of planes too. Old technology.

[@polymath5119]

Jason and Nikki - long comment but hopefully helpful. I spent a several years helping install and test a lightning prevention/surge arresting system on a long gondola lift in Colorado's high country. It did reduce direct and proximal strikes, and did shunt induced surges to ground without damage, but not 100%. Sometimes we had to replace arrestor equipment, but that was much cheaper and easier than replacing the operating electronics. My concern about the ion collector atop the boat mast is that it is very small and may not do a good enough job of collecting ions to dissipate. A larger array is advised. But any dissipation PLUS the secondary arrestors on each circuit and electronic device for induced surges will make a difference. I would install both to reduce the risk of a blowout while at sea, as well as the hassle of equipment replacement and having to find another insurance company afterward.

[@roger80465]

I would be curious about whether insurance companies have experience with boats that have the system. Have they paid claims on boats who have these systems?

[@AdventureOtaku]

I am an outdoor educator and one of the things I teach is lightning safety - NOLS has done great research on lightning and has published a great book. One thing I will correct, the ten mile number is wrong. Most people who get struck by lightning the storm is on average 36 MILES away. most people get struck on clear days.

[@BLKMGK4]

Parlay already struck 2x and Dauntless is installing a really spiffy device to try and prevent a strike on their boat that looks a bit like this and also claims Tesla patents - we'll see! Not sure it's the same device but it'll be interesting to see results when a bunch of popular boaters begin running them.

[@wildtropics5354]

I have the same device that Dauntless uses and have done extensive research and have talked with many technicians regarding the science behind the CMCE device, it is PROVEN and effective. There is 100% confirmed way to avoid a strike and it is in the sience behind ion dissipation and neutralization.

[@Coffeeismyhappyplace]

Breakfast with the wynns. My favorite time of the week

[@jetskiliferboatguy8140]

Ty from Sailing Dauntless just did a great vid on this subject. Thoroughly researched and well presented. Ty wouldn't put it out there unless he thoroughly understands all aspects of what's involved to be able to pass that info onto their viewers.

[@rickrick1465]

He did a great video and gave access to discount for purchase

[@dansbrown1313]

I just watched his video and it sounds legit to me. It would be a good idea for Jason and Nickie too take a look at it.

[@jetskiliferboatguy8140]

@@dansbrown1313 I wouldn't own a sail boat without one after watching it !! A sail boat is a floating lightning rod.

[@kj5905]

Ty also did that crappy lagoon repair kit. He admits that it only covers the edge so that hopefully people can resale the damaged lagoon

[@jetskiliferboatguy8140]

@@kj5905 it is what it is and it is the factory certified repair to prevent bulkhead failures so that should be all that is needed to protect values. Only time will tell. Personally I would go with what the factory originally told Colin on how to repair it. There are only 2 properly repaired 450's, IMO.

[@robertcapen6814]

60 years ago we sailed with a sextant and radio. Navigation was DR and paper charts. Lightening protection involved dropping copper electrodes into the water and connecting them with stout copper wire to the chain plates in a storm. At night when we were all hooked up we delighted in St. Elmo's Fire coming off the mast head. Then we knew we were properly(?) ionizing the atmosphere above, giving us some protection just like the $15,000.00 gizmo. Pay your money, take your chances - good luck!

[@talkshitko9234]

Boats hit when docked , as in your video ,are more likely hit from by being connected to shore power. Especially when it's multiple boats .Even boats anchored nearby can by struck by the electricity dissipating from the shore power lines.The best protection is multiple surge guards inline.

[@jeffmooreD40]

I NEVER leave my boat connected to shore power when away from the boat. I've personally heard of 2 boats that were damaged by surge via shore power connection. Does a galvanic isolator protect your boat from a shore power surge? I'm not sure.

[@talkshitko9234]

@@jeffmooreD40 Yes but the problem is that the electricity from a lightning strike goes out of the hull through the water and allso hits other boats indirectly. It's better to be well away from other boats.Faraday method seems reliable, but theirs a system called a CMCE worth looking in to.

[@junglelap]

Great content! I grew up in the tropics where lightning was a frequent occurance. We have lightning rods on top of the roof throughout house with the cables grounding on the ground. However, that solution only worked 50% of the time and we we even got surge protector but it only works once. We found that the surge also comes from the power line too. Our best solution was to "unplug" all major expensive devices and that has been the best solution. The question for HH is that is there a way for you to unplug all the devices from the top of the mast so that in the even a direct hit, the surge would not follow your powerline and of course to disconnect power from shore line.

[@itsnotme07]

Glad to hear your Mom is ok Jason. Lightning is wicked scary.

[@MIdaffy502]

Interesting Conversation. Note this, farmers have been putting lighting rods on there barns for more than hundred years, along with copper drain wires down to the ground where copper ground rods are placed. Year's ago I did RF site survives on commercial buildings, which also have lighting rods around the perimeter of the roof top along with a common buss wire linking them all together. From there, the buss is transferred to multiple paths to grounds in the building. All very logical. I was also given a tour of a university telephone switch room that had been updated recently, the telephone switch was wiped out by and direct hit, then two weeks after replacing the entire phone system, it was hit again. The solution was to place copper 4" x 1/2" buss bar around the perimeter of the entire room, where every rack unit and lighting arrester was connected to. This system is using Aluminum, which is a great conductor, but there's a reason it was banned for use in electrical wiring in the USA for many years, but its being used in electrical systems again. As aluminum ages, it shrinks and in system that used mechanical fasters (set screws) the fasters were no longer tight, this caused arcing which leads to heat, and enough heat to cause house fires. Does this system have regular inspection intervals to insure good connection over the coarse of the products expected life time?

[@jeffreystork6862]

Wow!! Your content and production in this "short" video is very good. I retired from working over 20 years on radio towers, (where lightning loves to strike,) A large amount of resources goes into lightning protection! My university semester to pass my R-56 certification (lightning protection) was very comprehensive. The results were amazing; 95% to 99% less lightning strikes on the radio towers. HOWEVER, the FINAL lesson taught was. We can guide lightning away from electronics; but in the end. "Lightning Will Strike Wherever the Hell it Pleases."

[@2oqp577]

In the telecom industry we use products like what Rayvoss make. They have been bought out but the actual products are what we call a Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor or TVSS. They incorporate what is called Metal Oxide Varystors or MOV, but the high power grades(100-300k joules class). Rayvoss MOVs are called Strikesorbs. I haven't seen anything equivalent in the marine industry but one should look up the market for an adapted product. On another note, while not a marine electrician myself, I wonder how well thought out and layed out are leasure boat electrics. How well designed are those blue boxes I see everywhere, as far as electrical isolations is concerned.

[@johnpeterdean1653]

Sailing Parlay Revival just had another lightening strike and it wiped out a lot of their electronics. I thing the cost was $15k to resolve it, and Colin did most of the fault finding and repair himself.

[@daviddunster9305]

I am Very Glad that you are looking into this aspect of the Natural World.

[@stevenjohns7017]

It's like a life raft, hope you never need it but glad you have if you do.

[@budchestnut9303]

Been struck by lightning 3 times. Twice in a diesel RV parked by the water and connected to shore power and water. Once in a 27' sailboat but also on shore power. I RARELY hear of folks struck at sea but it does happen. I am an electrical engineer. If lightning strikes the power grid anywhere within about half a mile of your vessel it can come right through the power, neutral and even ground wires to whack your boat. I do know that in the case of shore power you can greatly minimize your damages buy using an inline 50A surge protector. It helps but is not perfect. Lightening is inevitable. Have a plan for continuing on after a direct hit for making your port. KISS is still the best policy. Don't have any one system whose failure could immobilize you. Another great justification for Diesel and Electric hybrids. Also Don't power electronics from other electronics. Run home runs to your battery pile for best power isolation of your devices. In radio communications the policy of always taking loads directly to the battery has paid off for many years.

[@spacewalker4087]

I heard that if you install one of the lighting devices on your boat, you can negotiate with your insurance company and they might lower your rates. If your new boat is all electric, the cost of a refit will be much higher than a conventional catamaran, so you should seriously consider one of these devices.

[@kate323]

When our insurance company didn’t renew us after our strike, the only company that would take us required us to get a rod.

[@commonsense246]

Yeah, been there done that. We live in a metal clad barndominium on the top of a mountain ridge in Arkansas, surely lightening strike capital of the US!, and do not have a lightning rod. Lots of folks say we don't need one as the whole building directs the energy into the ground naturally. This is informative.

[@rosskennedy4333]

Sunday morning, 🍿 time. We lost everything in an RV from a strike. As a former aircraft electronics technician, I have ofter thought of something like this. It seems like a no-brainer to me. IMHO.

[@gonewiththewynns]

Popcorn & ☕ - breakfast of champions! 😆

[@mjordan812]

Many years ago on my Hobie 14 out on the Gulf a couple of miles south of Biloxi when a T-Storm came in off the gulf with all sails set. I made it to shore ahead of it but felt somewhat exposed. This was 1974, so no electronics involved. 😁 I was involved in a data center build and we installed a similar product. This was in 1990 and, to the best of my knowledge, the data center hasn't been hit.

[@cwroadking]

Great video, I don’t think that I have ever seen a video or heard anything about lightning strikes on a boat before, I do think that H&H should add this to their boats in production so that the customer has a peace of mind that they are covered.

[@Corey-pd3mi]

Generally speaking, anyone will add anything, for a fee 🤷‍♂️

[@MrDonJBerg]

I am a retired Electrical Engineer and worked for the Air Force at their tracking stations doing power and grounding quality. The main point is ONE ground point for allllll . Ac, Dc, Lightning, everything "Grounds" at the same point. Does that little ball thing work, nobody will know for 5 years and 1000 installations. The only thing you can really do, is prepare for a strike. Have a backup power source, such a a portable battery system that has it's own solar panels for charging. At least you will have phone, GPS of other emergency issues taken care of...like making coffee..

[@Leland189]

Great information. I have been through many Florida lightening storms in a large powerboat with no strikes. Thank the Lord! However, I have lost a number of TVs in my house due to lightening even with household suppressor electrical grid protection. Have also lost large pine trees to direct strikes! Who knows ?

[@w8stral]

Our friends home burned down even though we were eating with them at our place next door and stupidly thought nothing of the lightning strike which we all knew was VERY close... PAY ATTENTION PEOPLE!

[@Brauma54]

OMG. I was in Dania Beach 2 weeks ago for business. I had lunch in CT Cantina and a crew from H&H Cat came in. I immediately thought of you two. I had no idea you were in town. That would’ve been so wild if you had walked in with them and I had a chance to meet you. Your videos are such a nice escape from my daily drudge… Keep up the good work. My youngest will go off to college this Fall and I hope we can break out of the rut and get back to reality.

[@harrisonchevy4452]

Great video kids. Very interesting what lighting can do to a boat 🛶 especially an electric powered boat. Time will tell if the proposed electrical lighting defuse system will work. I think the price will come down over time as more solutions come on line.

[@mikebarron5805]

There are cheaper ways of dissipating static. Those frayed ropes you see trailing off the tips of some airplane wings are stactic disapators.

[@anitagreg2010]

I have never thought about that until this video. Jason, hope your Mom is ok and glad she survived the strike.

[@karenpolansky9097]

Holy crow, that’s expensive! I agree that you would think that insurance companies would give you a bit of a discount installing something like this. After all, they give discounts on home insurance if you have an alarm system. (PS I hope everything works out for your mom.) ❤

[@alandavis8564]

In the pro audio and IT world I’ve relied on a combination of SurgeX, APC or Tripplite battery backup UPS, and Furman conditioners/outlet strips. Worth every penny to protect high end audio and networking equipment. Maybe worth a look for marine surge/dip protection.

[@DYoung-vt8pq]

Thank you. That was very interesting. I have had damage to my TV & accessories in my home due to lightening. Safe Travels! ❤️

[@SA-sx9iu]

I love the work that you two go through for your viewers so they are well prepared so thankyou for that. so if you turn everything off like the main battery power, before you get struck by lightning do things still get fried.

[@sputnikalgrim]

This might be an unconventional method of prevention but having Thor sail with you could really help 😁

[@gonewiththewynns]

😆😆😎

[@Stoutluvr]

Working in the electric power field for for over 40 years, we discovered that when something is hit by lighting, it does not like to turn sharp corners. So I would recommend that if you put in something like you are looking at in video that all the wiring running to the ground plates on the hull be done with gradual bends. No sharp bends please. Just FYI

[@keithoregan3467]

Very informative video! I wonder (have you asked), if insurance companies would give a discount or better rate if you had this new device on your boat. I also would be curious to know if during the build of a boat, that the install costs would be lower since the mast isn't up.

[@gtsteven1]

I remember the Sailing magazines in the 1970's addressing the problem of lightening strikes on sailboats. The basic architecture of the devices was basically the same as what you present here. Grounding plates below the waterline plus a conductor at the masthead linked by a conductive cable would create a "cone of protection" whereon the ions would be neutralized so as to be less attractive to a strike. The tech was pretty simple.and it seemed to work.

[@rvmorgan47]

I have dealt with towers in southern Ga. for years and I can tell you I dealt with lightning a lot. I talked to a company in Fla. that all they do is lightning on buildings and towers. They put halos on the top of the towers and all over the buildings. The halos defuse the starters that come up from the ground which is the start of the lightning strike. after we had them put on our towers we did not get hit again. there are other things like carbon around the grounding rods to extend the grounding area. I am not aware of what they might do on a boat but if anyone knows about lightning protection. Lightning master in Fla. is the company we used. You can either protect yourself if you get hit or try to make sure that you don't get hit.

[@JT-1969]

Hi guys, very interesting device. I get the cost to install is expensive, but wonder if any insurance companies give a break by having it installed? Considering how expensive it is to replace electronics, the hassle of finding a new insurance provider, and the chances of your boat being struck more than once over the time you own it, wouldn’t it be a good preventative measure to install?

[@enmodo]

I'd be really curious what the actual cost breakdown for that device is. I'm expecting there's special metal milled and polished in a special shape, with hi-tech coatings, high grade dielectrics, high purity low loss conductors, special techniques to route cables and bond to the conductor plates on your hull. Maybe $2500 to make, 100% markup, $5000 of labor (50 hours x $100/hr) with up to 100% markup. The high price gives buyers some sense of security - every year you have hundreds of thousands of yachts not hit by lightning, the vast majority. Every one of them who has the device will swear by it every year. Even if it does nothing there will be huge numbers of false positives. And if it does work it could take a long time to figure it out with reasonable certainty - statistical significance. For that reason I'm pretty sure the manufacturers will end up offering a money-back guarantee on the device (but not cost of repairs) for anyone who gets their boat hit and still make $$$. Kind of like all the high security bike locks who at least give you a refund if the lock is compromised. It is worth it in marketing. I'm guessing it won't be long before there are DIY plans, or cheap knock-offs for a few thousand and self installs. Sure you wouldn't get the experience of someone installing it over and over and there would probably be some compromises on materials - and it still may fail just like a pro-install might - but I'm pretty sure this will happen as the market expands and competition grows. Of course best option is yacht builders include this as part of the original build and masts come with ion-discharge conductor paths builtin - install costs should be way less, mass manufacture and competition drive prices down. But like all safety features these things take a long time to percolate through the market and ultimately lightning damage sells more product so there's not as much incentive to push it unless customers demand it. What will be needed is some very solid research of actual vessels and analysis of data. They could be packing the masts of early adopters with lightning detectors and impervious data loggers and offering discounts because proof that they work will be worth its weight in gold. But really they don't have to prove anything right now - if you're buying a $1M+ yacht then $15K for a lightning prevention system is probably an easy sell until there was definitive proof they don't work. And if they do, game over - every insurance company will offer discounts and everyone will take the option.

[@paulbuttner6808]

Great subject and discussion of a very costly and potentially serious problem. Interesting find of a product that claims to protect from both direct and indirect lighting strikes. Please make sure to read all the fine print on they say is covered. Thank for sharing this with us and I like your new jacket.

[@pdittmer2002]

I am curious if the amount of carbon fiber in the HH will effect how the boat would deal with lightning as carbon is quite a good conductor compared to other composites. Being in FL, I have always thought it smart to protect everything outside from strikes since they are so common here. Seems like a rod, or the device you are talking about connected to grounding points would be a great piece of mind investment. Great content you two, always love catching up each week with your adventures!

[@IainMcClatchie]

I think this is a fairly major issue. Carbon is a good conductor but it has to be separated from aluminum and other metals by insulators, typically a thin layer of fiberglass, to prevent corrosion. A lightning strike is going to blow through all those thin insulators, which will then vaporize because they're resistive enough to absorb a fair bit of energy. A small blob of fiberglass plasma in the middle of lots of carbon fiber is basically a small bomb, maybe as small as a good-sized firecracker, maybe much bigger. I think it's even more important to protect a carbon boat with (a) a low resistance discharge path from the highest point to the water, and (b) insulator blocks on all the stays, like what you see on the guy wires on utility poles.

[@325xitgrocgetter]

Not a sailboat...but owning a plug in hybrid automobile. I usually will unplug it during a severe lightning storm. Owned two over the past 8 years and so far no problem...this time of year, it's more of an issue of clearing snow from the charge port door. Years ago, in an apartment, we had a close lightning strike that caused a power outage and my answering machine wasn't working when the power came back online.

[@sharonbraselton3135]

Ues bees why hybred car biat lane. Hybdder ejrdc yaght

[@mikevaughan583]

Thanks for all the great videos. You two are good people, keep it up.

[@Boardguy94]

Some good reading regarding lightning protection can be found at the National Sea Grant Library. The University of Florida SGEB-17 is another good resource.

[@bobf4765]

A lightning story - I used to work/camp in NW Connecticut, lots of 100 foot+ tall pine trees. The home/office I was working from, a BSA Camp, had soda machines against the wall outside the garage. Those machines would get hit 3 to 4 times in a summer! Not the trees nor the house/office were hit! Ever see a Coke machine launch a soda can 40ft! And not just one, but a stream of them!! Lightning - nothing to play with... Fair winds...

[@sharonbraselton3135]

B u a 40 fout sail boat coke jachine in biard

[@billstoys8324]

Our radio network uses the bottle brush devices on our towers and ground them to earth to dissipate the energy around the tower. Also here in central Florida you see all of the protection shown in the videos on cell towers and around power sub stations. It can be affective in channeling the lightening away from sensitive equipment. A good practice that I use is to disconnect your equipment from power and antennas when lightening is around. I also plug my fridge into a solar generator to keep it running and protect it from a commercial power.

[@pdgadventures]

It's incredible that we are rediscovering how Nikola Tesla helped to build our world 80 years after his death. The product seems expensive but sounds like it would be worth it to not deal with an electrical refit and insurance. Thank you for sharing this info!

[@mikebarron5805]

👍👍 And lets not forget about Faraday and EMP.😉

[@alanw9677]

Re: Tesla, we would be decades ahead of now if the government hadn’t confiscated all of Teslas research data when they found him dead in his home. He was above genius.

[@andersonautomotive]

I dropped my insurance because they were absolutely ridiculous. But we were very concerned about lightning. So we bought one of these and I did the install myself. EMP solutions even loaned me the specialized meter to test for proper operation before their warranty could be in force. For half the cost of 1 year insurance, I now have up to $100k coverage against a direct strike for 10 years. I am concerned about time on the hard because the ground plates need to be in water to work. I think I might drill and tap them and bolt on a big wire with a ground spike under the boat.

[@dennisd6527]

Not a sailor, but the technology seems promising. My only problem is laying out 15 grand for it. Also, I would assume there are a lot of proximity strikes to boats, and if I understand it right, there's no guarantee on those types of strikes. It could end up being a $15,000 shiny hood ornament.

[@Corey-pd3mi]

Since getting struck is somewhat random, ya don’t know if it works until it doesn’t 😂

[@TLAR24]

The jacket looks great Nikki! Love the Color’s. ❤️🇨🇦

[@n1uno1965]

Wow, incredible stories! Thanks for sharing! You both are so good at life, you’ll make the best decision ever! 🙏🏻👍🏻😘🖖🏻

[@francismcswiney5610]

While most lighting strikes don’t cause structural damage, we had a customer call us to recover his 30 ft sail boat which had sunk in it’s slip. It had been struck by lightning which actually blew out 5 1/2” holes at the water line. His boat was not hooked up to shore power and sank after bilge pump drained the onboard battery.

[@joelipinski7731]

Shockingly good stuff, thank you again, long ago all farm houses had Lightning Rods, we’re they effective? Love your content.

[@vanessabryan786]

Remember what you see as lightening is actually the superheated air Chanel’s return stroke. But lightening can indeed strike from over the horizon and the damage following a strike can only be minimised by routing it straight to earth … either literally or water if at sea. Plucky experienced the worse combination in that the charge passed down his mast and rigging then had to find a way into the water through the higher resistance of his fibreglass hull. It eventually traveled through the inner hull and exited blowing a hole in the hull next to the prop shaft and nearly sinking him as well as leaving dead in the water at an isolated place.

[@mikebarron5805]

Yes & No. Lighting rods are designed to get hit and redirect the electrical current directly to an earth grounding rod. Oh Yeah, lighting rods were originally installed on the old farm houses & barns to prevent the lighting from setting the structures on fire. They didn't have any electronics back then & didn't have to worry about the EMP that accompanies a lighting strike.😉

[@webheadusa9377]

@@vanessabryan786 Yes, he was recording when the lightning struck his mast. And he saved his boat from sinking! /Sailing into HELL Part 1! Lightning devastates Freedom - The sailboat is SINKING! / kzbin.info/www/bejne/epeQiXaqm7psodk Part 2 kzbin.info/www/bejne/favOgpR9j76XjKs Part 3 kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpXHnJKYdt-br5I Part 4 kzbin.info/www/bejne/qpesXneba7iCaqs

[@whiskeyfife1147]

Been hooked since the RV videos. I never had interest in sailing or boats until watching these videos but now I’m hooked. Can’t wait see y’all sail again on your new boat when you get it.

[@cherylynn927]

What about surge protectors? If used on all of the equipment it might protect certain items against a hit? Just wondering!

[@robc1952]

simple surge protectors don't work all that much, they take time to fail and allows some or all of the surge to continue trough a bit, I have found the running 6 or 7 protectors together in series will work, would also need to keep a bunch of spares, protectors are make using a device called a thyristor, you parallel 2 together, at a set voltage they short out stopping a surge, so then you would make 6 or 7 sets of 2 and set the 2 unit sets in series, depending on the type they can go for $7 each to over $1000 each,

[@SteampunkSteve]

My farm house was struck twice. Once was a tree 15 ft from the house that traveled down the surface and into a buried electric line. Blew the line out of the ground and melted the glass fuses at both ends. The second time it hit the lightening rod on the roof and traveled down the wire into the ground. Then it came back up through the ground rod for the phone lines. It only fried one line which went to the computer (good old dial-up). Blackened the phone plug and popped the lights out of my surge protector. The computer was fine. A good surge protector is worth its weight in gold in a lightening strike. I'm not sure if they make them to protect boats but it's worth looking into

[@sharonbraselton3135]

Buy whaler 15. 50 hp ejrrc outbsrd

[@alanw9677]

Y’all are my favorite sailing channel(even when you’re not sailing🙃)just ahead of”On Board”..keep on keepin’on! Don’t know how far along your boat is but, have you talked to them since this video about lightening systems? What do they offer? Does it come standard with something? Is there any upgrade or allowance for another option? Would Ralph sell the equipment to you and you can get it installed while they’re building it, if you decide on it? Would your insurance company give you a discount if you have one? You probably went through all these questions yourselves, just my immediate thoughts after watching. Stay safe and healthy ⛵️🇺🇸

[@geodeaholicm4889]

great vid. when i was in h.school lightning hit a tree in our back yard & blew much of it into matchsicks... the emp pulse accompanying the lightning blew every 60 watt lightbulb in the house & the garage like old kodak flash cubes... this was late 60's, decades b4 high tech electronics.

[@wayne6220]

Good video, In addition to the device mentioned in the video, one additional measure that can be taken to protect electronic systems on a boat is to place them inside Faraday cages. Each electronic piece could be placed in a small Faraday cage, and lightning arrestors could be installed on the cables entering and exiting the cage. The cages could be grounded to either the water or the earth when the boat is on a hard stand. This setup would provide an additional layer of protection against electromagnetic interference and other electrical hazards, including lightning strikes. However, it is important to note that direct lightning strikes can still pose a significant risk to electronic systems, even when they are enclosed in a Faraday cage. Thanks for your video and information, looking forward to your next video.

[@charleshuguley9323]

It seems so bizarre to me that insurance companies so commonly drop clients after a claim. Clearly someone who has experienced a lightning strike would not be more likely to have another than anyone else. I have experienced this with another kind of disaster. The company told me they were not renewing my insurance because it was their practice to deny insurance to anyone who did not have ALL their insurance with the company. Since my business insurance was not with them, they wouldn't offer me homeowners insurance. I inquired about taking out business coverage with them. They replied that they did not offer business insurance.

[@jeffconway1953]

Every time the subject of lightning strikes comes up I wonder, to myself, what does the Navy do to protect their ships and equipment. I figure they have been at this for a while and have tried various approaches so what is the current state of the art strategy used by the Navy?

[@helmshardover]

That might be different in that the steel hull and superstructure become a Faraday Cage, protecting the contents.

[@Blazer02LS]

Steel hulls have a huge advantage. The entire hull acts to dissipate the charge because it's conductive. On a glass or wood hull it all acts as an insulator except for the electronics. Top of the mast usually has an antenna or at minimum a lamp. Those connect to the power and grounds inside the craft. All the electronics also connect to the engine which has a shaft that goes into the water. That provides the conductive path and lightning looks for the easy path.

[@peterengel7885]

The Navy is aware of the Faraday cage and uses that principle even when building wooden boats.

[@jeffconway1953]

@@peterengel7885 A faraday cage is good for blocking radio emissions but does nothing to protect against high current and voltage where it was never intended to be. There has to be a strategy to protect all the electronics. Perhaps that strategy is just to cary spares and make repairs onboard as you go. Damn the lightning, full speed ahead!

[@travlnchaz239]

I agree with the distance I was flying a flight from Philly to Salisbury and was struck by lightning and the closest storm was 20 miles away

[@billstoys8324]

Sailing into Freedom took a lightening strike and it blew a hole in the bottom of the boat. He managed to save the boat but it was very difficult because he was by himself out in the middle of nowhere by Panama.

[@keithbrandon8540]

Yes I watch this channel. Amazing footage of the strikes.

[@adrianwintle5284]

Great content as usual! One issue I can see with the protection device is that it appears to add a rigid 3'-4' to the top of the mast. Not a huge issue in the Pacific, but a concern if you have to deal with bridges.

[@davidbascombe4478]

Do boats with metal hulls get hit with lightning more or less often than boats nonmetal hulls?

[@sharonbraselton3135]

More time

[@RiverWoods111]

Whatever you found you need to share your information with Parlay Revival. Collin and crew have been struck by lightning two times very recent. They had just replaced all of their electronics when they got hit again.

[@loda9510]

Very interesting. Where I live in East TN there are lots of buildings that have lightning rods on their structures. Glad that you two are researching.

[@RiverWoods111]

Yeah, I live in Georgia, and I have never lived anywhere where thunder and lightning happen almost every day! I am from the west coast where it barely ever rains, so this is such a new thing for me.

[@randalladdison537]

Please list for us things needed to keep in stock on board like auto pilot spares, engine parts, watermaker parts, batteries if possible that would get you home after a lightning strike. Is that even possible since they are so expensive???How about some sort of Surge protections for each system???

[@NJ-Cathie]

I am just curious doesn’t a boat have surge suppressors that would flip a circuit to protect a boat like a GFC Outlet or surge strip for a computer on a larger scale? With your mom’s van I would think the rubber tires would have ground the van….Any thoughts?

[@davep5788]

Rubber is an insulator. A direct hit on a vehicle can be dangerous to the occupants because it can retain the charge for a while and if you are the first thing to touch the ground, you can become the conduit. Some vehicles used to have little drag strips to dissipate charges, mostly from static buildup. I don't see those much anymore. Maybe surge suppressors don't work for lighting? I'm not sure how a proximity strike does the damage.

[@makanimike]

there is just way too much power in a lightning strike. It's like wanting to stop a tank with a little speed bump. The power surge will just blast through any teenytiny surge protector or fuse.

[@rosskennedy4333]

A surge protector is to a lightning strike like a train rerailer in a 100-car doing a 100 mph. The power is so high it will jump a good distance to make ground. The systems depicted here are more like a cloaking device for the boat making the "lightning-targeting radar", unable to see the target. Changing the charge to make the boat less palatable, kind of souring the milk so to speak.

[@paraniomia]

Lightning will just jump across from the vehicle to the ground, it's already jumped through the air to get the vehicle, the vehicle just offers a less resistant patch between air and ground.

[@rosskennedy4333]

@@paraniomia exactly.

[@gordonmcgregor6431]

That system makes perfect sense at least for a direct strike, plastic boat with a 60-80 ft metal pole that has nowhere for the energy to go. I'm suprised that the mast is not bonded to earthing plates on the outside of the hull as standard, actually never considered it till now but it does make sense. When you're on the hard then as somebody else says in the comments having a way of connecting the exterior plates to a ground rod each would help