Lightening Strike Damage Test Results
15 June 2016 | Rio Dulce, Guatemala
Susan / mostly sunny, hot & humid 97 degrees F
Jerry has completed his rounds of inspections and testing. A few items were resuscitated with new fuses, LEDs and/or a power cycle. Others pronounced dead for sure. Still others need to be replaced based on expert advise / experience.
Dead:
VHF antenna (blown away) & cable
Garmin VHF & remote including remote charging stations (2)
Garmin AIS
Garmin wind transducer
Garmin autopilot control head, heading sensor, course computer
iCom 802 SSB
Pioneer AM/FM radio
Xantrex Inverter / Charger
Balmar Centerfielder
Mintaka Duo barograph
Sump pumps on starboard side heads (2)
Starboard engine - starter sometimes doesn't kick over, when it starts it charges ok but a warning buzzer won't go off (no idiot lights though).
Starboard fuel gauge
Resuscitated however still questionable:
Garmin Radar (blown fuse)
Blue Sky solar charge controller (power cycled)
Raymarine autopilot (reset)
Navigation lights, steaming light (LEDs failed / replaced)
No way to stress test:
House battery bank - replace based on expert advise & words of wisdom from other sailors whose boats were hit by lightening.
Inside & Outside speakers (6) - AM/FM radio dead
Still to test:
Mooring light
Thru-hulls
While a long list, and I've probably missed a few items, there's lots of other equipment that tests out fine. In no particular order: Garmin chart plotters (2), NIMEA network, Garmin fish finder / sonar, Onan generator, interior lights (LED), washer / dryer, fridges & freezer (too bad since we'd love to replace them...), AC units, satellite phone / antenna, watermaker, solar panels, 3-D printer & other office equipment, laptops, Jerry's lab equipment, manual bilge pumps,.... plus no fires, no water intrusion (that we've found), and we were not personally zapped. We've heard worse stories; amazing the stories people tell of their own and their friends experiences, others they've heard about when one gets struck by lightning. We personally know of two or three boats that were struck, one a Lagoon 440 like ours and they were much worse off damage-wise. So small blessings if the insurance company & our policy is reasonable. Speaking of which,
Quick Haul: We moved it from Monday / Tuesday to Wednesday, then rescheduled it again to tomorrow (Thursday) so that the insurance adjustor / surveyor can be on site. He finally booked a flight to land in San Pedro Sula for this afternoon. This is not a fly-in, rent a car, drive a bit kind of location. There are two options for airports, San Pedro Sula (Honduras) and Guatemala City. The bus from Guatemala City takes 5 hours more or less. A car / driver can be hired for the 3 hour drive from San Pedro Sula. Funny thing though, the Guatemala / Honduras border closes 6pm. It's two hours from the airport to the border and he won't make it in time so he's stuck in Honduras for the night. We've arranged for a car / driver to pick him up at the hotel but he can only get across the border when it opens up and then it's 2 hours to the hotel, 2 hours back to the border and another hour here plus lancha time to our marina or Abels if we choose to go ahead and get the haul-out underway. Bottom line we're really not sure when he'll arrive on-site tomorrow. He's not been here before - he didn't even know where the Rio Dulce is - so it's sure to be an adventure. I hope this doesn't affect his mood in a negative way....