[C320-list] for owners of older Sospenders

[Quentin Murphy]

Lew,

I had a similar experience last season and was told by Mustang the six-year
old model was just discontinued.  It was Canadian Coast Guard approved when
I purchased it.  I seem to remember the automatic inflation feature was
Coast Guard approved around six to seven years ago in Canada.  Eventually I
found a boat store which had the recharge kit, after looking in about ten
boat shops in Toronto. Most people say the recharge cartridge should be
replaced every year or two or they could become unreliable.

Quentin Murphy
Celtic Knot #667


-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at catalina320.com]On Behalf Of sailorlew at aol.com
Sent: March 15, 2007 5:02 PM
To: brucestanley at optusnet.com.au; c320-list at catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] for owners of older Sospenders



  In 2000 I purchased a manual/automatic Sospenders pfd. Over the years it
sat in its original packaging because I never felt that conditions
necessitated wearing it. After the boat was hauled in the fall I put it in
the trunk of my car & forgot about until last week when I opened the trunk &
found it inflated(some snow had gotten on it when I had opened the trunk
previously). I figured that at least I knew that it worked, & I would get a
re arm kit. Today I called the manufacturer to find out what the correct
rearm kit would be & was told that since this model was manufactured before
the inflatable pfd's became CG approved they no longer had kits available
for them. They reccomended that I "retire this unit & purchase a new one
that is CG approved". To purchase a similar unit that includes a harness is
about $200 dollars as opposed to about $20 for a rearm kit. This seems a
ploy to make customers buy new units since even if it's not CG approved, if
you have enough regular pfd's aboard you are still legal, & even a CG
approved unit is not legal unless its being worn.
Lew
________________________________________________________________________
AOL now offers free email to everyone.  Find out more about what's free from
AOL at AOL.com.