Aleria's Adventures

Dangerous cloud-to-ground lightning by Daria Blackwell A boat we once owned had the unlikely misfortune of having been struck by lightning twice. She had a dissipator on her mast, her rig was not unusually tall, and she was always moored in a crowded mooring field.  Yet, somehow, the lightning liked her best. A study published last year in Science ( Science 14 November 2014: Vol. 346 no. 6211 pp. 851-854 DOI: 10.1126/science.125910 ) concluded that lightning strikes are predicted to increase 12 ± 5% per degree Celsius of global warming and about 50% over this century.  With the increase in likelihood of a strike, what do we need to know to protect ourselves and our vessels? Here are a

We finally managed to get out for a walk in between storms today. It was blustery and cold yet we decided to visit Bertra Strand one of our favourite beaches to walk in Ireland.  It has spectacular views of Croagh Patrick and the most amazing sand dunes I've ever had the pleasure to walk. The views across Clew Bay are magnificent too, and the beach is littered with lucky weather stones and fossils. We'd heard that the Strand had been hit hard by the recent procession of storms and wanted to see for ourselves.