[Alberg30] Lightning Protection

[Bob Chambers]

If you are successful at "channeling" the massive current that is associated
with a lightning bolt, you definitely will earn a spot in Ripley's Believe
It or Not!  Lightning once hit a tree in my rear yard, after it, there was a
four inch wide by four inch deep zig zag trough from the tree towards the
house, some 30 feet, where the bolt literally vaporized the dirt and
presumably root that was there.  It (apparantly) sought the water pipes in
the house as the trough disappeared alongside the house next to the washing
machine and took out several components of the washer as well.  Many people
think lightning rods on homes etc are to "channel" the bolt to the ground.
Not so, they are to bleed off the charge from the ground to hopefully avert
a strike, whether that theory is true or not.  While a boat's mast 'may' be
substantial enough to carry the current in a direct strike, I seriously
doubt you could put large enough wire and grounding plates etc to also carry
the current.

Bob Chambers


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