lightning

We all live on or around lakes when and seen a few lightning storms in our day. Why do we never hear of boats getting hit by lightning? What happens to a boat when it gets struck? What is the chance of this happening?

I would guess most people are like me. Rain is fine and sometimes refreshing. One sound of thunder...and I'm gone!

http://www.cdc.gov/nasd/docs/d000001-d000100/d000007/d000007.html

Interesting info Walt...

So do you ground your tower to your engine and risk the increased chance of being hit but hope the protection sends the strike into the water and not all around to you and your passengers? I have thought quite a bit about this very thing since we have afternoon storms here in fl almost every afternoon.

You could ground your tower to the skags but I haven't worked out what galvanic corrosion you might get from bronze to copper wire to steel bolts to aluminum.
I think the increased risk of being hit is relative to other boats with towers near you on the lake and not much different if you are just running by yourself. A couple hundred thousand volts that's just about to jump across 3000 feet of air probably doesn't care too much if there is ten feet of metal to use.

Carbon fiber is a good conductor for lightning too