Lightning Protection

[ebb]

Theis, on the subject of this thread, makes imco a very good clear point here.
I am only a student of the problem. The lightening protection system on my sailboat will never get the constant attention it needs. How would I do it? Go aloft with a meter and a magnifier? It is to me a rather gerried collection of assumptions, anyway. If I am depending on connections of bolts and rigging parts what's the fix to get better connections? Something in a spray can?

The hatch is wide open for a genuine invention to appear on the market, like a single or pair of dependable UNBROKEN runs of cable? from the top to the ground. Perhaps it could be a diy upgrade rather than an obscenely priced doodah. Perhaps it could be weight saving sacrificial aluminium cable that can be renewed easily.

1) The lightning protection system is completely separate from
2) the grounding of a boat's electric system. And I believe
3) the bonding of underwater metals, if you choose to do it, is a separate system as well.
To me that means no sharing of any wires or cables or grounding plates.

If someone could set me straight in very simple english, on this once and for all I'd be grateful. Tho still a curmudgeon.

One ohm more of resistance here:
I feel that if at all possible I have to keep the lightning strike outside the inside of the boat. I feel that NO wire runs connected to the strike safety system should exist inside the cabin. I feel the mast base should not be wired to ground thru the interior space. I feel that bolting a bronze plate to the hull that is somehow connected to the rod on top of the mast is asking for trouble. One ohm out might spell disaster. I feel the faraday cage effect should somehow be incorporated into the safety system to ensure as much as we know that no side flashes are possible in the event of a strike. To me that means use the rigging. That means get the strike to ground without impedance. Or as somebody has pointed out, have such a good ground that lightning is uninterested in my little ship.