In northern Idaho over the Memorial Day weekend, Jeff Meredith, his wife Natalie, their son, Jonathan, and one of his friends packed their boat and headed out into a lake for the weekend.
Two days later a sheriff’s deputy found the boat run aground and was partly submerged. Jeff Meredith, said Deputy Randy Herman, was still at the helm, slumped over in the driver seat. He was dead.
Near the open stern, would-be rescuers found three more bodies, dead in their sleeping bags. Herman speculated all four were dead before the boat ran aground.
Investigators later determined the family died from what is known as “station wagon effect.” Herman explained this happens when a boat travels at slow speeds with the rear loaded so exhaust is drawn from the exhaust pipes in the stern and accumulates in all low areas of the boat.
This is just one of the horror stories commonly heard every year on how insidious is carbon monoxide, a gas caused by incomplete combustion. Internal combustion engines, gas stoves and heaters, charcoal grills all emit carbon monoxide.
According to health officials, more than 500 people die every year unaware they have succumbed to carbon monoxide which is odorless and invisible. Most people, they say, aren’t aware they are being poisoned until it is too late.
Firefighters, health departments and the federal Centers for Disease Control all recommend carbon monoxide detectors in the home.
The U.S. Coast Guard, however, has issued warnings to boaters, especially those with swim platforms on their transoms. It notes a study that found houseboats, in particular, with swim platforms, keep carbon monoxide from dissipating into the air but gather and, eventually, creep over the gunwales into the deck areas.
“The problem may not be confined to houseboats, however,” says a Coast Guard bulletin. “Since any boat with the generator located in the transom and a swim platform could present the same lethal hazard.”
According to the Coast Guard, any gas-powered appliance should be properly installed on boats so that all exhaust is properly vented. This includes generators, stoves and heaters. And, according to Coast Guard guidelines, just as you vent any possible fuel fumes from a boat before starting the engine, all areas should be aired-out before leaving the pier in case any carbon monoxide had built-up when the boat was last used.
Concern over carbon monoxide on boats led to several studies by the Coast Guard and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. One result of these studies found a design flaw in some houseboats on which generator exhaust fumes were vented into an enclosed space near the stern swim platform. This resulted in several deaths, according to the Coast Guard alert.
Most of those houseboats were recalled by their manufacturer to correct the problem, but some may still be in use.
Of special concern to the Coast Guard, is a sport called “teak surfing.” Participants hang onto the swim platform until the boat gains enough speed to generate a wake. The “surfer” then body surfs in the wake, or rides a tube almost directly inhaling the boat’s exhaust.
Several deaths have been reported in the past five years from this sport, according to Capt. Scott Evans, chief of the office of boating safety, U.S. Coast Guard. He adds that, if carbon monoxide poisoning wasn’t dangerous enough to stop the “surfers,” the proximity to the boat’s propeller(s) and the danger of being swung into another boat increases the danger involved.
In conclusion Evans said, “Both on land and at sea, carbon monoxide is not to be tempted.
“Research found carbon monoxide danger to persons sitting on, or near, a swim deck. That is why we cannot stress enough that you protect yourself from carbon monoxide’s lethal tentacles.”
