Re: Static Electricity

Thos. Westerman (thomasw@vanion.com)
Tue, 03 Aug 1999 08:42:36 -0600


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West Wight Potter Website at URL
http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
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>Last weekend I launched my P18 just before a summer thunderstorm
>
>When I got in the cockpit I received a mild static electricity shock from
>my outboard. Touching it again I received another, and another.
>Clear skies afterwards and no shocks from the motor.
>
>Was this my mast soaking up electricity from the air or what?

The list went through a long discussion on this a couple months ago after I
had been out on John Martin Res in Colorado under similar conditions and
experienced the shock problem. My solution was to beach (to get out of the
approaching storm) and run jumper cables I had in the truck from the front
stay to a piece of metal I sunk into the sand which drained the buildup
from the wind and dry air, etc...

It stopped when the weather passed.