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From: (no name) (no email)
Date: Wed Oct 03 2001 - 10:21:44 EDT
In a message dated 10/01/2001 10:14:26 PM Atlantic Daylight Time,
writes:
>
> I guess that I am writing this to remind everyone that now that it is
> getting colder out some folks may forget about ventilation while running
> their motor or genset. With this writing possibly someone my just
> remember that CO is odorless and deadly. While underway don't forget
> about the station wagon effect. I recall just a few years ago a captain
> found his wife dead in the galley after just one hour of running down
> the Intracoastal. Please be safe everyone.
> --
I want to second Jerry's warning.
Some years ago, not long after moving onto the water, I did a very stupid
thing with a genset and came close to killing myself, my son, and his mother.
Please, please, understand the CO is a VERY sneaky killer. It shuts down the
brain then it kills you.
And it can happen AFTER you shut down the source as it did with me.
Apparently after I had shut the genset off the CO oozed from the engine room
and rose to the ceiling (unlike CO2, CO is 3% *lighter* than air) to puddle
there. We were in a high berth in the bow of the boat. I went back to bed
after shutting down the genset that was sounding "funny" (the exhaust pipe
came apart and flooded the engine room with exhaust). We awoke a couple of
hours later to the cry of the baby that sounded "distressful" the like of
which I have never heard before or since. We took him from his crib into the
berth with us but he just wouldn't settle down. We dozed on and off and
gradually began to feel "drugged". I thought it was just a hangover because
we were up late the night before partying with friends rafted alongside.
Finally my son's mom (a medical type) realized something unusual was going
on. She staggered out of the berth, and after several heroic tries, managed
to get out on deck and raise the alarm. My infant son saved our lives that
morning.
Funny thing about CO poisoning, it makes you stupid so you don't realized
what is happening. You feel paralyzed and just want to go to sleep, thinking
it will be all right in the morning, much like lobsters feel when you steam
them starting from cold water I suppose.
I bought two CO detectors in Home Depot and installed them in each end of the
boat. They are the type that use a 12 VDC wall cube. I installed a switch
in each unit and wired them to my 12 VDC buss. They are a little sensitive,
but they have let me know when I did not dog my aft windows down tightly.
Be careful out there...
Norm
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