The weather report that Friday night last August called for “thunder showers, ending by morning.” It also mentioned “possible lightning strikes.” Now I’ve always put lightning strikes in the category of shark attacks. You hear about them, but they rarely happen, especially to you. Suffice it to say that the lightning storm we experienced on Vinalhaven that night was the worst I can remember. When I looked out the bedroom window the night sky was bright with lightning striking everywhere. A neighbor’s chimney was hit, as were several boats in Carver’s Harbor, and that was just in our immediate area.
The next morning I rowed out to inspect the Sisu 26 I had purchased in April. From a distance everything looked OK. As I climbed aboard, however, I noticed plastic shards scattered around the cockpit. Further inspection revealed they were the remains of the VHF radio. When I looked up and saw what was left of the radio antenna split in several directions, I realized that our boat had indeed been hit by lightning. This was confirmed when the rest of the electronics (GPS, Radar, Fish Finder, Smart Pilot) did not function, nor was I able to start the engine. Although I didn’t realize it at the time, I had taken my last ride in the Sisu.
Confronted with this disaster I tried to figure out what to do next. I couldn’t inform the insurance company until Monday, so I contacted our caretaker, Pete Gasperini, hoping that perhaps he could start the engine. After confirming the fact that the electronics were shot, Pete spent a fruitless hour trying to get the engine going. At that point we weren’t sure what had caused it to fail, though it certainly appeared to be connected with the lightning strike. The good news was that although the engine wouldn’t start, at least there was no exit hole in the hull, which would have caused the boat to sink. I should add that the day before I had taken some friends to Rockland in the Sisu, with no indication that the engine (a Crusader Marine, V-8) wasn’t in perfect condition.
I checked my insurance policy and found to my relief that “electronic navigational equipment” was not subject to a deductible. Nor was there anything specific regarding the engine in a paragraph titled “Exclusions.” “Don’t worry,” a friend said, “the strike probably knocked out the starter, which is easy to replace.”
My next step was to contact Thayer’s Y-Knot Boatyard on North Haven, and tell them what had happened. Co-owner Collette Haskell, who was very accommodating throughout the whole process, told me to have the Sisu towed over and their mechanic would check it out. At that point I remember optimistically thinking that the boat would probably be laid up for a week or two while we replaced the electronics and fixed the starter.
In fact it was a good deal more complicated than that, but I am getting ahead of myself. Monday morning I called the insurance company. The agent in charge of the branch office on Vinalhaven told me that her son had been on the phone Friday night when the line was hit by lightning and he had received a terrific shock. He was all right, but it helped put what happened to my boat in perspective.
By mid-week I had received a letter from the insurance company with a list of questions to answer. A representative from the company called and, after hearing my explanation of what happened, he assured me that my losses would be covered, but “to be patient.” The remainder of the summer passed by as Thayer’s Boatyard was understandably reluctant to take my engine apart without authorization from the insurance company. I hesitated too, thinking of the expense involved. After weeks of negotiations, however, we finally received permission to proceed. The findings were not encouraging.
The key question was whether the Crusader engine was damaged prior to the lightning strike. When Thayer’s mechanic finally received permission to pull the engine, he found “extensive corrosion and heavy rust encasing the crank,” leading him to believe that the engine compartment had been filled with water at some time previously. In turn, this raised the question: was the damage to the engine a result of the lightning strike or was it just a coincidence the engine seized up when it did?
Thayer’s report to the insurance company was appropriately ambivalent. “It is undeterminable whether the damage to the engine is connected to the lightning strike or is just an untimely, unfortunate coincidence.” After a 20-minute examination of the boat, however, a marine surveyor hired by the insurance company informed them that the damage to the engine was not due to the lightning strike.
Naturally I disagreed with the surveyor’s conclusions. Prior to purchasing the Sisu, it had been inspected by a licensed surveyor. Furthermore, the Crusader engine had performed without incident since I had bought it, including the trip to Rockland the day before the strike. I asked myself, what could have caused the engine to suddenly seize up except the lightning strike? Apparently salt water had been sucked into the engine through the manifold during the strike, and had remained for several weeks. This, the company argued, would explain the rust and corrosion build up. In spite of my protests, the insurance company agreed with the findings of their marine surveyor. In mid-October I was sent a check for the electronics, but not a penny to replace the engine, which was a total loss.
Conclusions? Read the small print in your policy before getting your hopes up. Mine stated: “We will not provide coverage for any loss or damage caused by, or resulting from wear and tear, lack of maintenance, corrosion or deterioration.” Based on the information provided by the marine surveyor, the company decided that the damage to the engine was caused by wear and tear/corrosion, but not by lightning.
Finally, when the weather report calls for “possible lightning strikes” take it seriously and remove, or at least lower, the radio antenna, which on my boat was the principal conductor. Lightning strikes can indeed occur, even to you!