Every sailor is afraid of this: lightning strike on board. It got us!
4. December 2020, Friday
11° 9' 53" N, 119° 23' 40" E
I am totally bent, because what happened yesterday tore not only a hole in the board cash, but a whole bomb crater!
The fun lasted only milliseconds and caused dying damage to our on-board electronics.
We are talking about a lightning strike on Odin, probably the greatest disaster that can happen on a ship.
It sounded like Thor himself was mad at us. A bang that made us both wince, followed by the stench of burnt cables.
The first glance went to the mast and there the radio antenna hangs sadly from the top of the mast. Damn!
We check the through-hulls to see if everything is dry or if the force of the impact has damaged our on-board valves, but luckily everything is dry.
The check of our electrical and electronic devices almost brings tears to our eyes.
First damage balance:
Autopilot broken, VHF radio broken, AIS (automatic ship identification device) broken, wind indicator and anemometer broken, depth log broken, navigation plotter broken, inverter broken, refrigerator broken, power generator broken and the battery bank also damaged. It still works, but needs to be replaced more urgently than before. (Fortunately we had ordered new batteries weeks ago, which we hope to receive soon)
So .. let's see what else turns out to be demaged.
Preliminary estimate of the property damage around 50.000 US Dollar. (No, our insurance is not liable for lightning damage!)
On top of all that, we are at the bottom of the world here. There is neither a marina nor a marine technician and we don't even want to talk about the possibility of buying ship accessories and ordering can take months.
We will now try to get things working again as much as possible. We have found a refrigerator mechanic, let's see if he can save something, because waiting months for a special 12V yacht refrigerator and drinking warm beer is not the epitome of luxury living. ;)
Well... those of you who followed Odin's journey on the Internet in the past years know that there have been worse situations on board.
But one thing is certain: 2020 is now a real shitty year for us too!
P.s.
My camera fell into the sea that day. HEY ... it's 2020!
The fun lasted only milliseconds and caused dying damage to our on-board electronics.
We are talking about a lightning strike on Odin, probably the greatest disaster that can happen on a ship.
It sounded like Thor himself was mad at us. A bang that made us both wince, followed by the stench of burnt cables.
The first glance went to the mast and there the radio antenna hangs sadly from the top of the mast. Damn!
We check the through-hulls to see if everything is dry or if the force of the impact has damaged our on-board valves, but luckily everything is dry.
The check of our electrical and electronic devices almost brings tears to our eyes.
First damage balance:
Autopilot broken, VHF radio broken, AIS (automatic ship identification device) broken, wind indicator and anemometer broken, depth log broken, navigation plotter broken, inverter broken, refrigerator broken, power generator broken and the battery bank also damaged. It still works, but needs to be replaced more urgently than before. (Fortunately we had ordered new batteries weeks ago, which we hope to receive soon)
So .. let's see what else turns out to be demaged.
Preliminary estimate of the property damage around 50.000 US Dollar. (No, our insurance is not liable for lightning damage!)
On top of all that, we are at the bottom of the world here. There is neither a marina nor a marine technician and we don't even want to talk about the possibility of buying ship accessories and ordering can take months.
We will now try to get things working again as much as possible. We have found a refrigerator mechanic, let's see if he can save something, because waiting months for a special 12V yacht refrigerator and drinking warm beer is not the epitome of luxury living. ;)
Well... those of you who followed Odin's journey on the Internet in the past years know that there have been worse situations on board.
But one thing is certain: 2020 is now a real shitty year for us too!
P.s.
My camera fell into the sea that day. HEY ... it's 2020!
