Thought I would share my latest on fixing my boat after it got hit by lightning on July 9th. I had originally thought it was just all the electronics that were fried on it and I've since hired a mobile repair service because it is taking me forever to get everything fixed on my own (and the insurance company should pay all the labor). On Friday, I installed the new switch and electric motor to get my boat lift working again and yesterday, I lowered the boat into the water for the first time since the strike. Since I'm still in the beginning of the insurance claim, I wanted to go out for a short ride, make sure the motor was working properly in all RPM ranges, charging the batteries, etc. I had gone under the hull of the boat a few weeks ago with a rowboat just to make sure there were no big gaping holes, but I wasn't able to see up in the centerboard slot where the compression post is attached that supports the mast. So, I thought I would be ok to get the boat wet again.
After lowering the boat into the water with the repaired lift, I jumped on and took a quick look in the cabin to make sure everything was dry and my worst fear was realized as I saw water flooding into the lower floor sections. I immediately jumped off and raised the boat out of the water, and watched water gushing out of the far side of the boat, but couldn't make out any breaches in the hull. So I got my row boat out again and went under the boat and now what was obvious is that there was a thru-hull opening that was wide open, there was supposed to be a depth transducer in there but it was a 2 inch diameter big hole in the bottom of the boat that I could stick my finger into. Went back up and under to the compartment under the rear berth where the transducer was and it was broken off, some nice black carbon spots all over it like there had been a good electrical discharge. And this was actually an old non operable transducer that I had left in there as a plug since it stopped working a few years ago and I replaced my depth finder with a transom mounted transducer type. So, now I'm going to have to decide whether to get some sort of plug, fiberglass the hole closed, or maybe get a new thru-hull transducer since the depth finder is one of the instruments that got fried by the lightning strike. Even though the thru-hull transducer is not connected to anything, I think some of the wiring is bundled up in a harness with other wires so somehow, it must have grounded the electricity through it (probably to the well grounded lift where the bunk board is right on the transducer for the most part), blown itself apart and out of the hole.
So now I have to fix the hole in the boat before I can check other stuff. This is a big game of progressive fixes, ie, I can't tell if the navigation equipment is working right until I can run the boat through the water, I can't tell if the speakers are blown until I get a new stereo to replace the fried one, etc. So I'm hoping to have all this stuff fixed by late October and November boat camping season including the extended Cayo Costa trip I'm hoping to make. Of course, I can still use handheld GPS's and VHF radios, etc. even if all the boat's systems aren't repaired yet, but I do need to make sure that the hull and motor are sound though.
So you see, mast-up storage is not always so great
landed on the rocks in a bad storm on Flathead Lake (MT) . They didn't blink or hassle. Forked over $8000 in hull repairs, new rudders, etc etc. Rates did not go up, but our "Accident Free" status reset 
