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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 10:46 am 
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It might be difficult to take down the mast when you´re on the water, if the waters are troubled or if you´re less physically fit or don´t have a very well functioning internal balance system.

Then you have even more reason to jump into the water.

Maybe Hobie can construct some kind of emergency system for taking down the mast?

Another option would be to carry some kind of Faraday cage on the Island. Then you could go out to catch some lightnings! That certainly would be a very adventurous sport! :mrgreen:


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:29 pm 
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Hopefully you are joking about Hobie changing the mast system and carrying a Faraday cage.... As I said in my first post in this thread, if you get hit by lightning on your Island, you are toast. Avoiding the situation in the first place is the only logical alternative, other than calling on whatever belief you follow for some sort of good fortune....

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:46 pm 
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I agree. If you're struck, they may as well spread the vegemite on you.

But I tend to wonder about what makes one most vulnerable. For instance, the VHF radios on high, the raised mast, using an anchor line, owning a yellow hull,.. :wink:

Also, would you be most likely to be hit sitting still with the sail up, or screaming full tilt across the water trying to reach shelter? :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :idea: :shock: :idea:


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 12:49 pm 
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I am sure joking about the Faraday cage, but not about the emergency system for the mast. I think a Hobie Island with lowered mast represent a very low risk (keeping your head down is however also a good idea) while a Hobie Island with rised mast represent a fairly high risk. So taking down the mast might be the difference between being hit and not being hit and between life and death.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:05 pm 
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Location: Terrigal NSW, Australia
I've often taken down the mast on my AI, to get under low bridges. How could it get any easier than it already is?

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:19 pm 
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The Faraday cage however has not to be a joke. Having a cabin on the Hobie Island would not be a very bad idea (as a shield against sun, rain, wind, cold, salt, insects, sharks, noise, arrows, spears, bullets, flamethrowers etc) and if you have a cabin you can as well make it safe for lightnings. It wont save the boat but it might save your life. 8)


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:26 pm 
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Taking down the mast on an AI is probably easier than taking it down on a TI, especially if you´re sitting in the rear seat of the TI. I have to step forward to take down the mast. I also have the old plastic mast instead of the carbon fibre mast, which makes some extra kilograms.

As I said not everyone is in good shape and the waters may be rough. Passing under bridges is really a completely different thing than trying to survive an intense thunder storm.


Last edited by Hobie Crafte on Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:29 pm 
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I expect it would only be difficult if you were rocking at sea in a gale. Otherwise, just hug the mast bottom, pull up and let gravity and the wind take it down.

Probably easiest if you are pointing in the wind,..

Personally, when I'm struck, I plan on being out on my WOODEN Hakas with my RUBBER boots against the PLASTIC hull and my RUBBER gloves holding the sheet! :mrgreen:

Radios off, of course.

I'll let you know how it works out. :lol:


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:48 pm 
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Taking down the mast creates some risk for losing it in the sea. Perhaps there should be some holder for the mast on the akas.

I also think I will rise the question about a Hobie Island with a cabin, unless there already exist a thread about that. I could really have some use for a cabin!


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:56 pm 
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When I take the mast down, I leave the furling line threaded through its cleat. Also, I bungee the mast to the akas.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 01, 2012 1:58 pm 
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I keep a ball bungee attached to each of the right (forward and aft) aka just for that purpose. I've used them once when my TI mast cup screw failed, and at other times when preparing to land in larger than comfortable shore break. Works well lashing down the mast & sail.

I also always tie the reefing line to the sheet line after pulling it through it's cleat, so less likely for the mast to permanently leave if everything went bad while taking it down.

This discussion is interesting, but the best idea is not to be on the water while a thunderstorm is overhead, if possible. :)
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 8:59 am 
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This is a great article - http://stormhighway.com/small_metal_objects_attract_lightning_myth.shtml

I have wondered about this because I have seen lightning strike the bare ocean instead of giant oil rigs nearby.

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PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 12:59 pm 
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It might not be a bad idea to have a lightening (rod) arrestor on a boat, but not to make sure the lightening hits the metal lightening rod instead of the boat ( a common mis-nomer). That's not how lightning rods work. Lightening rods give the static electricity an easier path for the static aura to dissipate, making the highest point (where the lightening rod is, less desirable for the lightening to strike, so hopefully the lightning will strike something else close by (like the house or tree next door). At least that's my understanding of how lightning rods work. I used to be into Ham radio, and built several antenna towers. We would run 1/8 inch bare aluminum wire up the antenna up to a lightning rod mounted near the far top. What this did was help dissipate the static (the blue aura, that (makes your hair stand up, and faint sparks coming off your arms and hands occurs just before the lightning strikes ( yes I have been struck by lightning).
So basically if lightning was going to strike within 30 feet of your boat, if you have a mast with no arrestor, the lightning will surely hit the mast (easiest path). If the mast is arrested, then it becomes a less likely target because the static aura around the antenna top was able to dissipate enough to make it less likely to strike the highest point, that's why the lightning struck the water near the oil derrick, because they likely had arrestors in place making it not so much a bulls eye.
All this stuff about Ben Franklin and his inventions (the key on a kite, and the lightning rod) and how they work I thought was something we all had to learn in grade school.
One of the times I did get struck there were 6 of us under a tree at a golf course. I felt the aura and could see my hair standing up and the small sparks emitting from my hair and fingertips, I yelled hit the dirt, and all of us dove down on the ground (making us less attractive), the lightning did strike the tree, we were all slightly injured (mostly just shock and a couple minor burns), but all of us survived.
If it were me and I was caught out in a thunderstorm on my TI, If I could I would take down the mast I would then hunker down in one of the seats as low as possible. I sometimes carry one of those metalized space blankets on board for emergencies (hypothermia), I would cover myself with that making sure one corner was in the water so the static can dissipate from the blanket making me a less likely target (like a lightning arrestor or faraday cage). Of course if the main bolt of lightning strikes you directly you are toast (luck of the draw), but if it hits somewhere else on or near the boat, yes you will likely get some secondary injury, and mostly likely be unconscious for a bit ( I was). But at least you are still in the boat with a much less likelihood of drowning, and/or being eaten by sharks. Plus the space blanket helps you stay warm and dry (er).
BTW, that's nonsense about the VHF radio, and the cell phone, I would still turn them off though. The reason being if they are off when the lightning strikes, they may still work when you turn them back on again after being struck (on the unlikely chance your still alive and need help).
Bob


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PostPosted: Mon Jun 03, 2013 1:23 pm 
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Good grief that's creepy. I wonder about movement. It seems to me that if you are out in your boat with mast down than the odds of getting struck are the same whether you are moving or just sitting there doing nothing. So you may as well keep peddling toward a safe location right...?

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PostPosted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 4:20 pm 
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Location: Fairfax, CA USA
Not on the water, but years ago i was on a peak in Canada when a storm came in. My partner and i were trapped on a knife edge ridge. At one point while we were trying to determine to go up or down, my hair stood straight up. Everything was buzzing. we speed climbed down as fast as we could- taking all kinds of crazy risks. We had a small bolt jump between my ice axe on my pack to his 30 feet away- left us both dazed for a minute. The rope was jumping around on its own. FLASH/BOOM, FLASH/BOOM, FLASH/BOOM over and over...
F'ing terrifying.
No hits, but that one little jolt convinced me there ain't squat you can do if that lottery ticket comes up that'll help when you are basically unprotected.
the gully come waterfall with the rocks ricocheting down felt so much safer. Spending two days stuck in the tent while the skies went mad was cake


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