goodfoundation
BOATU.S. FOUNDATION FOR BOATING SAFETY & CLEAN WATER
Poisoned At Sea
By Kathryn Ressel Seagle
It may be hard to believe that a zipped-in cockpit enclosure allowed in so little fresh air
that a couple almost succumbed to carbon-monoxide poisoning, but it happened
nippy weekend cruise with
two other boats to the scenic island of Captiva, Florida,
nearly turned deadly for an
older couple who’d snapped
tight their cockpit side curtains when the
weather off the Florida coast turned chilly
on December 10, 2010. Aboard Rojan, a
32-foot motor cruiser, Ron and Janie Ressel
were taking turns at the wheel while they
headed south at nine knots to Captiva
Island Yacht Club. The wind was from the
north. The temperature was 47 degrees.
Around noon Janie called to Ron to
take his turn. When he didn’t answer, she
turned to see him slumped in the chair
behind her in the cockpit. She yelled to
rouse him but then passed out herself.
When she came to, and realized Rojan
was out of the channel and she didn’t
know where she was, Janie immediately
got on the ship’s radio to call friends
Marlene and Jim Stice aboard Happy Hour
to help her. She focused on keeping the
boat on a steady course and in minutes
realized that she was fading in and out of
A
Ron and Janie Ressel aboard Rojan on a more pleasant cruise.
The Ressels get rescued by the Coast Guard.
consciousness. The Stices kept her on the
radio. When they asked her position, she
was able to see a marker ahead and told
them, “Markers 45 & 46.” They told her
to unsnap the curtains and put the boat
in neutral. She managed to slow the boat,
but one engine remained engaged, and the
boat began to circle. Doing just one thing
took more concentration than she had,
while she suffered
from the poisonous
gases trapped in the
cockpit of Rojan.
