Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening.

[Jackofalltrades 35]

Have any of you ever had your narrowboat or widebeam struck by lightning?  I've read various yachty stories over the years but these have almost always been GRP yachts with a tall alloy mast stuck on top.  When it happens reports of fried electronics seem commonplace.  So what happens on a steel-hulled boat?  Does the lack of a 20 metre mast pointing skyward mean it almost never happens?  Does the steel hull act as a faraday cage and protect everything that isn't electrically connected to the hull, like phones and laptops?  What about electrical appliances that are permanently wired in or plugged in at the time?  And what about solar panels on the roof, or [gulp] your shiny shiny electric propulsion motor & electronics?

 

 

[Jen-in-Wellies 1908]

Yachts on the lumpy water are usually the highest thing around. Boats on a canal are usually lower than trees, buildings and tall people on the tow path. Never heard of one getting struck. Ever.

[TheBiscuits 4341]

1 minute ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Never heard of one getting struck. Ever.

 

Twice

 

[Jen-in-Wellies 1908]

1 minute ago, TheBiscuits said:

 

Twice

 

Yes, a lightning strike typically vaporises a narrowboat so thoroughly that there is nothing left but a hole in the water where it used to be.

[TheBiscuits 4341]

2 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Yes, a lightning strike typically vaporises a narrowboat so thoroughly that there is nothing left but a hole in the water where it used to be.

 

Which is convenient for throwing £20 notes into ...

[tree monkey 3139]

3 minutes ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Yachts on the lumpy water are usually the highest thing around. Boats on a canal are usually lower than trees, buildings and tall people on the tow path. Never heard of one getting struck. Ever.

One of my favourite memories of boating was a 5am warm summers morning on the Llan, along an embankment, heavens opens, absolutely biblical but warm, it was just funny how heavy the rain was, then the thunder started and I was watching the lightning hitting the farm fields to both sides of me, stunning, absolutely stunning.

It then dawned on me, I was stood in a muddy ditch, soaking wet, holding a brass tube, above the surrounding fields, ahh well I thought i wasn't dead so I kept going.

 

[Tony Brooks 3306]

If lightening strikes an all steel narrowboat the hull is likely to act as a Faraday cage so little if any damage is done, maybe a bit of burned paint.

[Tracy D'arth 803]

And maybe galvanic dissolving of the hull?

[Tony Brooks 3306]

1 minute ago, Tracy D'arth said:

And maybe galvanic dissolving of the hull?

 

As I understand it the current actually flows upwards from ground to cloud so maybe you get the hull plated from the Armco.

[Jackofalltrades 35]

1 hour ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Yachts on the lumpy water are usually the highest thing around. Boats on a canal are usually lower than trees, buildings and tall people on the tow path. Never heard of one getting struck. Ever.

 

That's comforting to know and makes sense. Thanks 👍

[Slim 373]

I have actually been at sea in a tropical thunderstorm on a yacht. Interesting but fortunately only hit by really heavy rain, that was painful enough.  

[roland elsdon 1074]

God of thunder only strikes widebeam boats moored in wrong place. Thats why there are now none between braunston and onley  prison marina or whatever its called.

Petitions are out for Zeus to up his game on the Grand Union.

[cuthound 2613]

13 hours ago, Jen-in-Wellies said:

Yachts on the lumpy water are usually the highest thing around. Boats on a canal are usually lower than trees, buildings and tall people on the tow path. Never heard of one getting struck. Ever.

 

On some canals, the person steering can be the highest thing around.

 

Best to moor up if you find yourself in this position.

[roland elsdon 1074]

Or get your 5 ft tall wife to steer when there is a storm.

We used to get sudden massive storms when I was bike racing in Oz. Conversations would ensue about carbon fibre lightening strikes etc. Most of guys worked in power industry. I used to ride behind big Jim. Big Jim was 6 ft 8. I assumed it would get him.

[Mac of Cygnet 1062]

I'm an extreme astraphobic, and cower inside my Faraday cage in thunderstorms.  Once, moored on the Ashby, lightning struck a bush nearby (you could see the burn marks afterwards).  I was lying on the floor with my eyes closed while Mrs Mac enjoyed the storm, as she does.  Later I heard (only heard, mind you) that a boater had been killed at the tiller in the same storm.

[Bee 2356]

Left the boat at its mooring in France over the winter with the batteries removed - I take them home to keep them charged - and when we returned several fuses had blown, apparently there had been a mega storm and the little shed a few yards from the boat had been struck. Can only imagine that a bit of stray electric had found its way into the boat. Thunderstorms in France can be something scary. We were in one and the hail was like walnuts / plums / marbles, take your pick, damaged boats and cars and the local paper had a picture of a barn with an asbestos type roof that looked as if it had been machine gunned.

[ditchcrawler 2413]

2 hours ago, cuthound said:

 

On some canals, the person steering can be the highest thing around.

 

Best to moor up if you find yourself in this position.

That is what bothers me. 

 

[dixi188 6]

On the K&A near Hungerford a few years ago a storm hit us with flashes all around. No time to moor, so I just put the boat in neutral and ducked inside 'til it passed.

[Jackofalltrades 35]

22 minutes ago, dixi188 said:

On the K&A near Hungerford a few years ago a storm hit us with flashes all around. No time to moor, so I just put the boat in neutral and ducked inside 'til it passed.

 

Good call. Unless someone coming the other way did the same. But then a dent is better than a death.

 

[Loddon 2352]

Sorry couldn't resist it😎

 

 

[Jackofalltrades 35]

4 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Sorry couldn't resist it😎

 

 

 

Yes but this is a lightning:

[ditchcrawler 2413]

13 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Sorry couldn't resist it😎

 

 

Especially as the engines are not running

[Sir Nibble 3274]

22 minutes ago, Loddon said:

Sorry couldn't resist it😎

 

 

Damn! I was about to do that.

[Ex Brummie 203]

It always amazed me how many P38J 's were shot down in 'friendly fire'.

[Loddon 2352]

7 minutes ago, Ex Brummie said:

It always amazed me how many P38J 's were shot down in 'friendly fire'.

Hard to believe  considering its distinctive shape