PFD problem ongoing.

Back and Forth with West Marine, Still Back and Forth.

My favorite response to our concerns over our West Marine Self-Inflating PFD's, actually self-inflating while stored in the boat was:

West Marine: Did you test the PFD's when you first bought them?

Bonneville: That really never crossed my mind. Are you saying I need to jump in the water to see if they actually work? I don't recall seeing that in the instruction pamphlet.

West Marine: Yes, that's what we recommend.

Bonneville: But that would mean we would need to re-arm the PFD with a new gas cylinder and bobbin.

West Marine: That's correct.

Bonneville: But how do I know that the new cylinder and bobbin will work...unless I test it again?

West Marine: Long silent pause. Give us your shipping address and we'll send you 4 re-arm kits.

Bonneville: And what about the PFD's that only inflated on one side?

West Marine: We'll get back to you on that.

The jury is still out for us on whether to continue to use West Marine PFD's or not.

Our best advise, according to the instuction pamphlet, and our history of self-inflating PFD's inflating whenever they want to is...replace the gas cylinders and bobbins (on West Marine self -inflating PFD's) at the beginning of each sailing season. Go ahead and test them if you would like to spend another $25 to see if they work.