Lightening grounding strip mounting flush or with a gap?

[LittleSkipper]

Ok, sometimes it helps to look at the photos.  I see there seems to be about 1/2-3/4 inch gap between the copper strip and Soggy Paws hull.  

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I have read the lightening resources Soggy Paws has online. Sounds very straight forward but I have 1 question.  Is the 12' grounding strip of copper mounted flush to the hull?  OR to get more area exposed is it recommended to have a gap between the hull and the strip?  Would a gap promote marine growth there?  I imagine it would represent more drag but not too much for a cruiser.

Thank you Soggy Paws

[Soggy Paws]

It has been a long time since I did that installation and we have sold the boat.  As I recall the literature recommended leaving about a 1/2" gap between the hull and copper bar so that as the strike dissipates along the edge it won't damage the hull so much.  So I used small squares of Starboard with holes in the center for the bronze mounting bolts.  The rest is as described in the writeup.

A lightning strike is a really scary thing and who knows how much this will help.  But it made me feel better about it.

Dave

[Soggy Geek]

Ha, ha, that little gap is to let the oysters grow!  (Sez the chief bottom scrubber on Soggy Paws).

[Matthew Balch]

That is true!  Chilly Pepper has the same thing, and it is offset from the hull by about a half inch.

[LittleSkipper]

Ok, great thank you all.  Now the gap is documented here in the forum.

[Chip]

Chip's lightning ground is bolted from the inside so that there is a nut between the hull and the plate. This provides about 1/2" gap and allows the plate to be removed in the water to clean out the oysters.

[Matthew Balch]

In addition to the mast being grounded to the lightening plate on the bottom of the boat, I recently ran heavy wire from the chainplates, bow pulpit and arch to that point also.  This was done to get any lightening surge out of the boat as quickly as possible.  Hope it helps, but you never know!