h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Dear Researchers,

Maybe some of you out there could help me with a serious question:

what to do when you're in a small, open, sailingboat on the middle of a lake and it suddenly starts lightning (let's say, based on counting first at 10, then 8, then 5, then 1 kilometre away from me)?

There are so many rumours going round on what would be wise to do, and with the one year university study in physisc, they all make equally much (non)sense...

And does it matter if my boat is wet of the rain (so more conductive) or dry? Should I or should I not attacht a wet towel between the mast and the water? Should I or should I not go back to the land. And what would happen if lightning struck my boat? Would it just pass trough the mast, or would also strike the passengers?

You know, I've been discussing this with my friends, but sailors are all very stubern (including me, ofcourse!)

Has any body a well- or bad-educated guess on this subject?

Thanks in advance,

Maarten

for a strart i would need to know about this boat, .... size what its made of, wheather anything has a meatal cord thign insteada rpe etc .....is there any wind?

Thank you for replying, nr. One,

I hope I can answer your question adequately: the boat is 'open' -so no change for a faraday's cage-, made out of polyesther, 6 meter (18 feet) long, the mast has the same size and is in this case made out of wood. From the top of the mast, there are three iron 'stays' running to the deck, one to front, two to the sides of the boat. There is no metal running from the side-stays, and sometimes there's a small metal strip running over the front part of the boat, from the fore-stay to the water. The wet towel would be connnected from the side-stay to the water.

Oh yes, there's a lot of wind!

I feel the use of this towel is none, because the whole boat is wet because the of rain, and this rain would make about anything conductive. Would a few thousand amperes see the difference between wet wood and wet iron?

Hoping to have answered your question and curious for some answers,

Maarten

P.S. May I put an hyperlink on this side so I could show you an exemple of the boat-type?

Dear researchers,

at this hyperlink, there's a good picture of the kind of boat I'm referring to, but... does it matter so much?

http://www.jma.org/zeilen/htm/fotoalbum/2002-3/File_05.jpg

Maarten

other questions ... type of lighnting , what country?

Dear Number One,

Sorry, I miss the relevance of this question:the country is Friesland (...the Netherlands) and the type of lightning, well, thunderbold lightning, like -what kind of lightning can I choose from? Maybe important to note is that Friesland is even more flat then the rest of the Netherlands, and we were about 10 kilometers (15-20) miles away from the Ijsellake, a lake so big that we used to call it a sea before we gave it a huge dam. (It's the lake that splits the upper part of the Netherlands in two)

It was a lighting in the first day out of three with a lot of heavy wheather after two weeks of extremely warm, dry AND windy wheather. We were on the lake (size: 3 kilometers (5 miles) x 12 kilometers) and we could see the shouers in the distance, we actually got caught between two shouers.

Maarten

im not to well educated, but remember that lightning is lazy and goes for the easiest and quickest ruite, so you boat in the middle of a lake would be the perfect lightning conductor, if it stuck anywhere near the boat it would hit the boat, if there are any trees higher than your boat, take your boat, near, but not directly under the tree, the tree would become the better conductor, otherwise, take it to the shore and get out and away.

question about lightning, was i thought there were to types ... sheet lighting and fork lightning

...and a lightning strike is one where they demand more pay and a shorter working week.

Liam.

assuming that it does hit the mast as said it would from te post above .... don't worrk about what happens to the mast, ur stays are alot more conductive ... im not sure what would happen when it reached the bottom of the stays in that split second.

thinking ..... i don't neasarly see a wet towel being that great an idea, cos water isn't that conductive ... but when u through a few thousand volts down it starts to be .... i wonder what would happen though if u got a bit more cable attached to the stays and put that in the water ..... then it would conduct down mast into the water more readily because tehre less resistance and assuming ur at teh other end of the boat would reduce the risk to you



but this is just me doing a mainly uneducated guess

http://www.mdsg.umd.edu/CB/lightning.html

cool ... i kinda had the right idea, tkaing an extra bit of conductor from the wmast to the water

There's some useful stuff at lightningsafety.com.

All I can remember from the days when my Dad took us sailing was that if there was a thunder storm forecasted and the weather conditions backed the forcast then we wouldn't go sailing until the weather improved later on.

If a storm started brewing whilst we were out on the sea then he would make for the shore and the nearest pub.

sounds gd ... oh sailing is SO much fun ... only problem is when u have so much fun u don't care about the friction on ur fingers from holding a rope tight .... not till a few days later and u get the blisters o so much fun, can't wait till my next chance to go sailing.

Yes, sailng = fun! Especially in bad weather, when you really sense you're self a part of the weather,... dark cloads all around you, a lot of wind, even some rain! That's when I really feel alive!

From your reactions (I somehow sense a bit of a ironic tone somewhere), I understand you've never been surpirised by lightning on a boat...

BTW, what is a sea-cadet?

Yes, I think it would be best to hang a piece of wire overboard, from the stay into the water. Maybe in an emergency, I could lower the fore-sail (fok), exchnage a few ropes and disconnect the fore-stay and put THAT into the water. I think then my boat becomes a very safe place, -safer then while hiding on the land-. Can you still follow what I'm saying in - I do no know these nautical terms in English, but I assume most of them to be derived from Dutch language anyway (or vice versa).

I just realise that in my boat, the mast itself is NOT the highest point. Our sails are somewhat 'rectangalar' and there's a beam called the gaffel being pulled higher then the mast.

Well, thank you all for your reactions, I going to give it some thought.

Originally, it was similar to the boy scout movement.

however with the military getting in on the act with various "cadet" schemes, it could be military for kids.

yeah but sead cadets differencers greatly from teh way the ACF(army cadets) ad ATC(air cadets). Sea cadets have miuch less support from the Mod, and are a registereed charity.


any donations welcome as all sea cadet units have to buy there own equipment and pay for heating and electricity and everyone plesed when they get a bit extra to help.

i will find you a decent link to try and convince anyone who has money and wants to give it to something worhtwhile to be kind and give it to teh sea cadets.

links:

http://www.sea-cadets.org/history/Default.htm

http://www.geocities.com/trurounit/badges.html this one shows the bages avalible for some of the thigns you can d oin the cadets

webring website, so you can look at the websites of individual units
http://t.webring.com/hub?ring=theapproveduksea&id=16&hub

otehr way of helping units is to offer your time , to help with mataining boats or helping train cadets, or helping with the admin side that keeps the unit alive behind the scenes