This night will forever stay branded in my mind. I was putting to bed my two kids and instead of counting sheep we were counting lightning strikes. The sky was constantly lit up followed by the loud roar of thunder. It was a fun activity for them despite my growing fear. A few years ago, while anchored in Florida and watching a similar slow moving storm we got struck by lightning. Everything went dark, my ears popped, smoke (it was actually steam) was rising from the bilge and we lost quite a few electronics with everything on top of the mast as it went up in smoke. So needless to say I was dreading every strike and praying for the storm to pass by quickly whilst trying to entertain my 2 and 3 year old kids.

Hurricane Erin which was passing North of the Dominican Republic Coast and luckily were not predicted to get a direct hit but this growing Category 5 hurricane. Thus in Luperon harbour, we were still affected by its outer rain bands. Those of which were also bringing torrential downpours and lightning storms. Surprisingly, the wind was actually quite calm that evening. With our sailboat well secured to a mooring ball and everything secured or off deck we went to bed.

After what felt like only a few hours of sleep I woke up to a sound I will always remember. It was that exact loud strike from a few years ago when lightning hit us. My whole body shook and I knew it must have struck extremely close to us. I couldn’t see anything so I went back to bed. It took a while before I fell back asleep, strikes seemed so close to us and I was on edge.

I am a very light sleeper, probably mommy’s brain here. So that faint sound in the distance of an alarm pulled me out of my dream world. I sprung out of bed to then realize it was a fellow boat’s alarm going off in the harbour. I rushed back to wake up Cory telling him “Something’s not right, there’s something going on.”. As I stepped into the cockpit I also heard the town’s alarm. My mind rushed, something was not right, it was not even 5 in the morning and the veil of night was surrounding us. As we scanned the horizon Cory instantly noticed the humongous flames rising from half a mile away from us. That big 72 feet catamaran with the tallest 100 and some feet mast was engulfed by fire. It didn’t take long to realize that the loud thunder heard only a couple hours ago had set this beauty on fire. I felt so sorry for the owner but also extremely worried about the neighbouring boats’  safety. The alarm which woke us up was from a sailor who was trying to wake up people in the harbour letting them know the close danger. Fortunately the wind was light and blowing in the right direction. Its mast breaking off pinned the catamaran where it was which also prevented it from drifting away and setting other boats on fire. I had never  seen such a fire and it made me realize how we had been so fortunate to not sustain any such sort of damage.

For the following hours I stayed up keeping an eye on it, ready to make a quick move. Some closer boats even went to anchor further away worried for their safety. There was nothing to do to stop the fire as it was just out of control. The only option for the local firefighters was to try to make it sink as fast as possible, spraying it with all they had. Even neighbouring towns sent help.

By daybreak, the flames had subsided and it finally seemed under control. I still couldn’t go to sleep as both kids were now wide awake watching the big cloud of white smoke with me. Throughout the day I could smell the burnt smell of plastic, fiberglass and chemicals every time the wind switched over to our direction. At least it wasn’t too often. Just a few days later they already had the catamaran lifted on bags. It was being towed between the tight spider web of boats over to the marina to get hauled out.

This was a crazy event which made me realize how quickly a dream can be swept away. Our strike was less than two thousands dollars worth of damage. But this man’s dream and 5 or so millions just went up in flames in a matter of hours. Minutes after the flame started it was quickly out of control. Not much can protect you from lightning. It is very unpredictable and so are the damages. Over the last six years of cruising we have met many sailors getting struck, mostly with electronics needing replacement and some with holes in the hull. We only sustained pinholes in the fiberglass which were minor. But it seems like a lottery knowing what will actually get damaged. A big rule on our boat is DO NOT TOUCH the mast when there’s a lightning storm.

Keeping fire extinguishers handy and functioning as well as having water at docks is so important. 

Anne Alexandra Fortin

Cory and Alex share their adventure with weekly videos on their YouTube channel “Wildly Intrepid Sailing”. Their dream is to travel the world and to live without any regrets.