Deaths due to carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is something to be feared, either in the home, a rented holiday pad, caravan, motorhome or aboard one’s treasured little ship, which is this post’s perspective.
Many years ago, when Whimbrel was new, I retrofitted ‘gas’ alarms beneath the drinks rack seen in the cabin view below. They were rather expensive marine units that were wired into the boat’s electrical system. They both failed – twice – before I went looking for different units.
In time I found that the best source for such items was the caravan and motorhome world. For CO units, the world wide web has a plethora of battery operated units that have a designed life-span of around seven years. An alarm sounds when battery is flat – besides, a lack of the tell-tale winking light is a damned good sign!
I have a gas alarm fitted low down under the step into the cockpit to tell of any butane/propane gas leakage. Incidentally, we have found that both will operate under ‘test’ should the mate’s underarm spray reach a sensor!
I was aghast to read in a marine industry editorial about the deaths of two boating folk in a Southampton Marina earlier this year. They were on a winter weekend. They had run the engine, a petrol unit, to charge batteries and get everything in order for a day afloat the next day.
However, during the evening/night, bothe passed away…
The report came up with the probable reason and, the fact that no alarm to monito carbon monoxide had been fitted.
See here:
The number of deaths investigated by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) has rapidly risen giving cause for concern.
On inland waterways craft, they are a necessity for a licence…
The most tragic side of this is the fact that a unit can be obtained online for a pittance – £15 – buys a unit lasting seven years and operates independently of the boats power system.
Be warned, if you do not have a carbon monoxide alarm, fit one. Funeral costs a darned sight more than the fifteen quid for a little box of electronics…