This tragic accident could have been prevented by more attention to boat maintenance and the installation of a CO alarm. Aboard a sailing yacht in the Pacific Northwest, a woman was taking her evening shower. After awhile, the woman's husband became suspicious due to her long absence and found the woman dead in the shower. The cause of death was CO poisoning from the propane flash water heater. Hindsight is a cold teacher.
Carbon monoxide is a by-product of incomplete combustion, present whenever fuel is burned.
Common home appliances such as gas or oil furnaces, clothes dryers, ranges, ovens, water heaters, un-vented space heaters, fireplaces, gas grills, and wood burning stoves produce it. Internal combustion engines such as the ones in your boat and automobile also produce carbon monoxide. According to a new report by the Journal of the American Medical Association, recreational boaters are at risk even if their boat is working perfectly. A recent study of more than 500 people with carbon monoxide poisoning concluded that 39 people were poisoned aboard recreational boats in 27 separate incidents. The poisonings were most common on boats that were more than 10 years old, longer than 22 feet and had an enclosed cabin.