June 20, 2005

Fla. couple dies of carbon-monoxide poisoning

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ORLANDO - - An Orange County couple died of apparent carbon-monoxide poisoning in the cabin of their boat while moored off a Lake George inlet, officials said.

Scott Moeller, 36, and his wife Stephanie, 35, were among five couples who launched their boats Saturday near DeLand for a trip to Lake George, said Richard A. Taylor, who lived near the couple on Lake Sheen north of Lake Buena Vista and joined them on the weekend trip.

Taylor, the Moellers and another couple moored overnight in Lake County, each with a generator running to provide air conditioning.

When the Moellers' generator ran out of gasoline at about 10 a.m. Sunday, another friend opening their door found their bodies, Taylor said.

Emergency workers found a high concentration of carbon monoxide when they entered the cabin, said Lt. Joy Hill of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Autopsies were scheduled today, she said.

DON"T EVEN RUNE GENSET WITHOUT CO ALARMS !!!

Buddy of mine was there over the weekend. Told me about it this morning. Very sad.

Very sad.

Another reason to have a CO detector
Got them in the house too , along with smoke detectors , cheap life insurance

Very sorry to hear this. How can a generator be run without the danger of carbon monoxide? Is there a way the exhaust can be safely piped?

Roby

Very sad.

Unfortunately incidents like this are very common. CO on boats is a BIG problem. I can't even tell you how many times I hear of something like this monthly in BOAT-US magazine.

Very unfortunate

Kohler has a recall right now on their gen sets. They were using black iron pipe for the exhaust and they are rotting out.

You always have to be thinking about your exhaust and drafts.

Like CigDaze said, always something in BoatUS about this.

Besides the (seemingly) obvious problems like houseboats venting into enclosed areas between pontoons (swimmers come up into CO and pass out) and venting out near the swim platform (swimmers pass out)... you need to be aware of CO coming back into the cockpit from your engines at idle.

You would be very surprised if you knew how many places and how often CO can "pool" in the air in and around your boat. Even without a genset.

And crusiers with bilge mounted gensets are prone to leaks that can find their way into cabin areas.

This is the problem. Or other leaking exhaust components.

Kohler replacing select marine generator exhausts.

KOHLER, Wis. – In an effort to provide maximum boating safety, Kohler Co. will replace, at no charge, the black iron wet exhaust pipe assembly with a stainless steel exhaust tube on specified Kohler marine generator sets manufactured from 1950 to 1989, according to the July issue of NAMS (National Association of Marine Surveyors) News. In March, it was reported that a St. Louis Circuit Court jury issued a $25-million punitive damage verdict against generator manufacturer Kohler Co. over the deaths of four people in 1999 from carbon monoxide poisoning aboard a boat. It was reportedly determined that the deaths were due to a leak in the generator's exhaust tube. (See Boating Industry Online article Kohler to pay $25 million in punitive damages.)The affected marine generator sets, equipped with L600 or L654 gasoline engines, were built under the following model numbers: 2R, 2A, 2.5R, 2.5A, 3.5R, 3.5A, 4R, 4A, 5R, 5A, 6.5R, 6.5A, 7.5R, 7.5A, the association newsletter reported. Carbon monoxide poisoning may result from failure of the black iron wet exhaust pipe used on these identified generator sets.Kohler Co. is working with its distributors and dealers, and others involved in the marine service industry to locate these marine generator set models, according to NAMS. The specified marine generators were used in a variety of boat applications.Boat owners who believe they have one of the affected generator models should contact an authorized Kohler distributor or dealer or should contact Kohler toll-free in the U.S. at 866-866-4933, or outside the U.S. at 920-803-4986, the association reported.Information also is available at the Kohler Power Systems Web site: www.kohlerpowersystems.com.