To save a life

C

captd

New member
Think about this: At Glen Cove Springs we were told by other boaters that a man and wife had died in their boat while being rafted up with a number of other boats. Several boats were running their generators. The exhaust was traveling between the boats and a light breeze moved it forward and into a port hole in the v-berth. They found both dead in the morning. One other couple lucked out in another boat when the wife woke up with a headacke. Had trouble waking her husband. They both survived.

The reason I mention this story is because while we were anchored there I noticed a couple boats with long hoses ( 20 to 30 ft. )coming off the back end of the boat. You couldn't hear anything running. Water would splash out the end of the hose ever so often. They did that all night. The hose was the same stuff used to vacuum out a swimming pool. The end of the hose had a piece of kids swim floats ( those long pieces kids put under their arms.) Holding up the spitting end . Next morning I had to go ask them what the deal was. They told me the above story. I still could not hear the genset running right behind their boat.
There is no question, I am going to do this. Seems like a great idea. Hardly any noise. ( It bothered no one next to them) plus it could save their life as well as anyone rafted up to them.

I am curious if any C- brats have ever seen or heard of this before.

captd
 
I wonder where the carbon monoxide detectors were? You need to have one near your head in the bunk, and near your head at the helm. The most important prevention is a carbon monoxide detector.

I had not heard of this exahust extension in boats. I would be concerned that there is a tight fit of the hose, that the hose would not leak or detiorrate and would not float near or between boats. The longer run of water and exhaust might cause more back pressure than the generator engine was designed for.

CDC suggests that boats be at least 20 feet from other boats running generators at night. RV's use a steel or aluminum tube to get the exhaust up high above the sides of the RV's. Also you should not have the generator exhaust next to a sea wall or solid dock.

It is not a good idea to run a gen set when rafted next to a boat--when we had built in gensets (diesel) it was a rule that you always had the genset exhaust on the opposite side of the boat you were rafted next to.

Do you have any articles citing this incident? With two deaths and two near fune incidents I would think that this would be reported.
 
thataway":2zdp552s said:
Do you have any articles citing this incident? With two deaths and two near fune incidents I would think that this would be reported.
Click to expand...

I remember the incident the name of the place is actually Green Cove Springs. It happened several months ago. I tried goggling thier newspaper without any success. More recently a cuddy cabin boat washed up on Fernandina Beach with two guys uncontious in the boat. They had been according to the news report rendered uncontious by fumes from the engine. Fortunately they were revived. I saw this hose arrangement being used by a boater in Black Creek about a month ago. I read and article recently in and RV forum about a guy swaping out a 4K Onan for a 2K Honda in a motorhome for the reduced noise. He had welded a piece of tubing over the exhaust outlet so he could route the exhaust out and away from the motorhome. I think I'd be concerned about the back pressure on such a small engine also.
 
On my boat and on the peoples boat who told me the story, the genset exhaust is above the water line. Before it comes out at that point it passes through a riser full of water. I don't believe that back pressure would be a factor. Two of the boats run their generator the whole weekend.( Course one of them was poling his dingy nude in the channel on the way in) Quite a number of boats have been using this method for a long time. Got no reports of any problems stemming from using this method of a silencing and safety. Glen Cove springs will have wall to wall boats , (100's) all rafted up on a big weekend. If a boater does not want to raft up, he should go some place else.

Bob is certainly correct, a detector would be an excellent addition to any boat. Most boats do not have one. Propane users had better have one installed.
I usually anchor well away from other boats and the diesel genset ( what little I use it ) does not concern me. A bilge buzzer would be a better investment for me. Gotta do that one of these days.

Thank you Marvin for saving me research on the incident.
captd

PS. My Co Captain just told me we were at Silver Glen Springs off of Lake George. Marvin may be correct where the incident took place. This is all news to me. Just that I was very impressed how quite this made the generator. I really, really believe this truelly, truelly happened, Bob.
 
The story was on the local news here in Jacksonville about 4 or 5 months ago. Green Cove Springs is about 1/2 way between Jax and Palatka. I think that's where it happened but I'm really not sure. I know Silver Glen Springs is really congested in the summer so it may well have been there.
 
I did find two incidents of CO poisoning at Silver Glen Springs in the Coast Guard data base:
1.
"Florida – Silver Glenn Springs / Lake George Inlet In June 2005, a 36-year-old man and his 35-year-old wife died of CO poisoning while inside a Chaparral 23' cabin cruiser. The couple’s boat was moored near a second boat; both boats’ generators were operating to power the air
conditioners. When the victims’ generator ran out of gas at about 10:00 am, the second couple opened the door and found the occupants’ bodies. When emergency workers entered the cabin, they found high concentrations of CO. Autopsy results
revealed that the husband’s COHb was 75.2%; the wife’s COHb was 77.2%. (Source: The News-Press; Coroner’s report;
press release from Florida Fish and Wildlife) Generator exhaust"
The official report does not say if the CO was from the dead couple's boat or other boats.
2.
"In August 1995, a 43-year-old man wearing snorkel gear went into the airspace beneath the extended rear deck of a 1994
Stardust houseboat to check the engine outdrive. The boat’s 12.5 kW Kohler generator was activated just before he entered
the airspace. The generator exhaust terminus was directed into the airspace. The boat propulsion engines were not
operating. Approximately 5 minutes after he entered the airspace, he was observed floating unresponsively face down in
the shallow water. He was retrieved from the water and bystanders administered CPR. He was then transported to shore,
and Emergency Medical Service was called. He was resuscitated in the hospital emergency department, and but died 17
hours after his exposure. His COHb (carboxyhemoglobin – CO in the blood) measured in the hospital 2 hours after
exposure, and after more than an hour on oxygen therapy, was 29.7%. A forensic toxicologist estimated that the man’s
COHb was greater than 70% when he collapsed. Inspection and testing of the houseboat revealed that operation of the
generator caused rapid accumulation of CO in the above-water airspace beneath the deck (the airspace he entered) such that
the concentration would reach 4,000 to 10,000 parts per million (ppm) within 2 to 5 minutes after the generator was
activated. The cause of death determined by autopsy was cerebral anoxia, due to acute carbon monoxide poisoning with
submersion. (Source, Lab Director, Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department) Rear-directed generator
exhaust terminus

The incidents of CO deaths from exhaust of generators or main engines under swim steps are well documented--and there are many cases of this thru out the nation. The deaths are tracked by both CG and CDC and I accessed this data base. From 1990 to 2007 there have been documented 141 deaths and 609 non fatal incidences of CO poisoning in boats in the United States.

Somewhat distrubing is that although the number of CO incidents peaked in 2000, there were almost as many incidents in 2007! The message is not getting across. You must have a CO detector--not just in boats which have a generator, but in any engine powered boat...--or a boat with any heating or cooking system.
 
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