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Yesterday I received a call from a person at my marina who said my mast was observed by a couple of people getting hit by lightning. I looked the boat all over but can't find any damage at all. I had taped all the turnbuckles with white tape and didn't see any signs of burn marks or melting. The shroud lines are the same tension as when rigged and the mast turns freely. All the electric equipment works. Is there anything else I need to worry about?

if you are sure they are right, look for a possible path down the daggerboard, and any exit points that could open up the hull's integrity. But if your motor starts and runs well and your electronics do the same and they continue to do so, then maybe it just looked like you were struck. The short answer on electronics that have been struck by a high voltage is that if they do not fail immediately the voltage burns holes in the silicon substrate of the chips which must now spread the power and heat over a smaller area that in a short while also burns through. Due to a manufacturing defect on a Cat Scan I used to work on, the Xray tube would arc over to the housing and 150 Thousand volts would go where it pleased. Usually within 2 months there would follow a rash of failed electronic boards or components. If you have insurance, I would start talking about this and you might also look at your warranties coverage.

Is your 30' mast the highest in your immediate area? If not, it may have looked like you were struck but it was really a neighbor in close proximity. Did you check some of the other sailboats in your immediate area - - - you might find evidence THEY were struck?

I'm not positive it makes a difference - - - but I always had a two master near me in Marina Del Rey to "take the hits" for me

Rick less in Las Vegas

Could also be that you were struck but the strike jumped to another mast and dissipated somewhere else...

Maybe put a little extra in the collection box on Sunday??

last friday i was standing in my boat next to the companionway,there was a flash and a sound like a gun going off next to my ear,my mast was the only one up at the dock,there is a tree close by and either the tree or my mast took the hit,i still dont know which got hit.Then yesterday an empty Lemonade bottle exploded and sent glass flying everywhere inside the boat so im hoping its not a case of third time unlucky.

Probably IS, but I hope not

Rick less in Las Vegas

If you found no signs / no damage . Then it wasnt hit......... Period

Divecoz wrote:If you found no signs / no damage . Then it wasnt hit......... Period

I'm thinking the same thing. Electronics would take the first hit. There is a LOT of power in a lightning strike. I've known a couple to take hits and electronics were fried even if rigging was intact.

Agree to check dagger trunk, but you probably dodged a bullet.

Again, check out the sailboats around you and you'll probably find the real victim

Rick less in Las Vegas

The "old salts" Ive spoken with that describe lightning hits all say there is no doubt if your boat is "HIT", the damage is obvious -- a real mess.