Lightning is an anomaly: It strikes wherever and whenever it wants. In my case, it struck me and by boat 200 miles south of Central America in 2011, on a glorious passage from Peru to Mexico. It was 2000 hrs, dark, and my one crew member, my friend Michael, was asleep in the aft cabin. I was on watch in the cockpit when I noticed a spectacular lightning event on the horizon, and was able to verify on my radar that it was approximately 20 nm away. “Terrific! Mother Nature is giving me a wonderful lightning show to entertain me!” I said to myself. Suddenly, I smelled smoke coming up the companionway.
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