Out of date Safety Equipment

[Divecoz]

Just a reminder as the Season nears for many of us.....
Page 66 March 2011 Cruising World has an Interesting Article on Coast Guard Vessel Check and .....
Guess what comes up most often for Citations $$$$$ and Warnings?
Yep ...I see a few hands up out there .. Fire Extinguishers and Flare Gun, Flares..
Speaking of Out of Date Flares? JSYK.... If yours have expired? You may not be able to just replace them.. ( the Flares) They changed the configuration/design of the launcher / Pistol..

[hart]

Yep. I've been hearing a lot of grumbling about the launcher change (I work at West Marine). With the nice warm weather in the south we've been selling safety gear like crazy. Seems like many of our customers remember to check their flares but forgot about the fire extinguisher.

Another one. Lots of customers have been replacing their dock lines. They get four short ones for the "corners" but forget about a spring line. Do yourself a favor and get a line about the length of the boat for use as a spring line. Very helpful. Also, learned this one the hard way. White lines look great for about a season, then they get dingy. Blue or black tend to hide dirt better.

[Gypsy]

New 12ga Flares won't fit an older gun ?
Please explain .

[hart]

If in doubt you can call Orion and ask them. I dealt with a customer today that has an older metal Olin launcher (Orion bought them out several years ago). Long story short Orion recommends that you NO LONGER use Olin launchers. They are replacing his free of charge.

Now, the issue I'm more familiar with is that the converter sleeve that came with the older 25MM kits (pre 1997) does not properly seat the new 12 gauge flares. Orion will swap your old converter for a new one if it's an issue. Here's the info: http://www.orionsignals.com/Marine/prod ... ice-1.html