Eb asked me to start a new thread to "show us what you're doing to protect your new toys now" after replacing them due to lightning.

First, let me describe what happened. I was not aboard at the time, so this is reconstructed. My Freedom 30 was tied up in its slip on a Friday in early August in the Chesapeake and there was a typical August thunderstorm, along weith lightning. The marina owner later told me that there was a very close strike, so close his office lit up. The next day, I was aboard and began to notice that nothing electronic worked. (It later turned out that the depth sounder transducer and the electronic compass sensor did survive.) Since we could find no physical evidence of a strike, many folks told me that it was probably due to the electromagnetic pulse from a nearby strike. My son noticed that there was some scorching in the plugs connecting the VHF cable to the antenna cable running up the mast. A new VHF radio didn't work all that well, so I replaced the antenna. I took apart the old VHF and found that there was a very distinct burn mark inside the case where the antenna cable plugged in. So I'm assuming that in fact the strike hit the VHF antenna, traveled down the mast cable and fried everything connected to it in one way or the other. (This doesn't explain the loss of the 120v GFCI, however, or the electronic switch on the bilge pump.)

Sorry, too long an introduction. Ebb, as far as I can tell there's really very little that I can do to protect my new instruments. Everything appears to be grounded properly and I did not have side flashes trying to blow a hole in my hull to get out. From what I've read, and I read a lot, the only reasonably priced device is that sort of wire brush affair that you mount at the masthead, and there's no real consensus that it works. I'm told that real lighning protection probably could be provided at extraordinaily high cost and at a weight penalty that would sink the boat. Even disconnecting everything when you leave the boat doesn't protect you from the electromagnetic pulse. So, for better or worse, I've simply replaced everything and will keep my fingers crossed. I wish I could share an easy solution but there really doesn't appear to be one. I do recommend a good insurance policy.

Al