[C320-list] for owners of older Sospenders

[Robert Seastream]

Hmm...

My wife & I have been considering the purchase of two auto-inflate  
PFD's with safety ring & harness, however, the trouble Lew experienced  
gives us pause.

I think Lew should contact the manufacturer again and propose that  
he'll go along with their replacement suggestion if they'll give a  
proven customer a break on the replacement cost.  If they agree and I  
were Lew, it would certainly make me speak positively of Sospenders in  
the future.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.  I'll be listening.

Bob Seastream
Intuition, hull # 906


On Mar 15, 2007, at 5:27 PM, Quentin Murphy wrote:

> 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
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