Preventing a Lightning strike on a sailboat : Lightning Protection

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I wrote this quick blog today to answer the question I received from two people in the last few days. The question is WHAT IS THIS? (as seen in one of our recent videos on Patrick’s Youtube Channel. 

What’s your guess? Does your sailboat have one of these? Here is a hint…What do you know about Sailboat lightning protection?

 

 

We have never had a problem in storms at the marina, in an anchorage or at sea, knock on wood maybe because we have always had this on the mast. It’s not broken, so we haven’t tried to fix it or improve upon it. 43 years and all is well!

Answer:

It’s a Forespar Lightning Master Static dissipater. It has been on our boat since I bought it in 2001. It is supposed to reduce the exposure to a direct lightning strike by controlling the conditions which trigger direct strikes. This is what West Marine says about it. “It reduces the build-up of static ground charge and retards the formation of the ion streamer which complete the path for a lightning strike. By employing the point-discharge principle, the Lightning Master continually leaks off the lightning-causing ground potential in low amperage over a long period of time instead of the short duration, high amperage discharge occurring with a lightning strike. More detail by clicking on the image above…

Does it work. Knock on wood, but we haven’t been struck yet…but it’s all voo doo to me really! I’m not sure anyone knows the absolute on any of this! But in all the times we have had lightning all around us, and other boats have been struck in the same marina or anchorage we have been in, and nothing has ever been damaged by lightning, I am NOT going to take it off and tempt fate!

Here are the two videos where you may get a glimpse of the lightning dissipater on Brick House:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Ile Rodrigues

Rodrigues Island : 6 Top Adventures

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Rodrigues island: The 6 Top Adventures to get your blood pumping!

Rodrigues Island, a small island in the Indian Ocean, may be off the beaten track, but there are plenty of things to keep the adrenaline junky happy. Hop on a motorcycle and take a tour out of Port Mathurin after exploring the local markets, and drive around the island to experience the sights and sounds! Take kitesurfing lessons where Lesson 1 is how to control the kite, and lesson 2 is to see how much salt water you can drink. Walk with the giant tortoises at Francois Leguat Tortoise Reserve. Try the zip line or bungy jump at the Tyrolieene Suspension bridge. Or just sit back and watch the kite surfers , eat some scrumptious creole dishes, and watch a traditional dance performance complete with traditional Rodrigues Island accordion music at the Morouk Ebony Hotel or Cotton Bay Hotel. There are hiking trails all over the island and caves to explore too! This island has something for everyone, and it was one of our most favorite stops in the entire Indian Ocean aboard our sailboat Brick House

 

Want to see where else we get to visit as we travel by sailboat around the world, beside Rodrigues Island? Subscribe to this channel and you will  see where we go next.

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Maintaining our Boat Sailing ChannelWant to see where we are now? Where we have been?

Our track

Some of the photography in this video was donated by The Rod Fishing Club/ MV Black Marlin of Rodrigues. Their website is here :    Rodrigues Has some of the  top sports fishing waters in the world! Check out their page for the year by year catch of the big ones!

https://www.rodfishingclub.com/en/The Mourouk Ebony Hotel on Rodrigues Island must have the best place on the planet to learn kitesurfing, and some of the best creole food we had on Rodrigues Island. The buffet dinner and traditional music and dancing performance only happens a few times a week so be sure to ask. This is also the location of the International Kitesurfing Festival each year.  Their Website is here :

http://www.mouroukebonyhotel.com/The Francois Leguat Tortoise Reserve and surrounding caves on Rodrigues Island were on the pricey side, but a must see to visit while you are there. You hike through trails accompanied with a guide who shows you all of the plants and animals of Rodrigues Island. For a few dollars extra you can visit some cave systems. Lunch is additional but quite tasty here. The website is here:

http://www.tortoisescavereserve-rodrigues.com

Traditional Tanzania Dancing- The Makua Dance is one to really shake things up!

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