[quote=Doug-p182-590]I've been sailing near 30 years. How can I make this simple... When lightning comes, get the f*** off the water! Yes, I've seen it all. The "branches" off a strike can go for hundreds of yards. Even being remotely close to one will end your arse in an instant. Grounding-shmounding. You want to know what a beach cat looks like when lightning comes down nearby? Not even directly ON the mast, just near enough? One shroud went red hot and snapped. Mast came down. Tramp caught fire. One hull sank because the glass melted a hole in it. No people on it. They had beached and got off, but the boat got caught in a little surge and floated about 30 yards off shore when the strike took it out. The owners just sat their hugging themselves because they were alive.
Forget the ramp. For a beach cat, when the dark clouds roll in, the rumbling starts and the flashes start off in the distance, make for shore and get the hell off ASAP.
End of story.
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