On Thursday 26 August 2004 3:42 am in rec.boats.cruising Peggie Hall wrote:

Refueling a petrol(usa gasoline) tank should never be done with
any possible sources of ignition running, but larger diesel yachts
have other requirements, some need transfer pumps (and therefore
a generator) to be running in order to fill all tanks in a
reasonabe time.

If his engine was diesel, he'd have had to be standing on his head with
with his nose next to the exhaust thru-hull...'cuz there's never been a
reported marine related CO death or "near miss" from a diesel exhaust in
open air...they've all been from gas (petrol to you g)
engines/generators. In fact, gasoline engines are the only ones at
issue, because most smaller boats and boats on inland waters where most
of the accidents happen have gas engines.

Indeed, I have never understood the american love affair with
gas-guzzling engines. One of the problems here is that most of
them are relics of an age when emissions were not considered.
On this side of the pond, the boat safety rules and the high
price of road fuel mean that petrol engines are effectively
restricted to outboards.

Which leads me to wonder just how thoroughly the LA Times reporter
actually researched that article...and how much he just accepted
stories from people who "know someone who knows someone who..." as true
without verifying 'em. That happens more often than you might think.

Like all newspapers, there is a gem of truth in there if you dig
deep enough, but most of what they write is sensationalised to
sell more newspapers.

My theory is that such boats should be subsidised so that the
idiots can afford to buy them and darwinate before they breed.
Quite apart from the CO issues it is just plain idiocy to swim
from the back of a boat with the engine running. How many of these
idiots manage to get shredded by the prop each year ?.

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