West Marine
I purchased West Marine Third Reef foul-weather gear in 2008 at the Miami Beach boat show. The jackets inner liner started shedding, leaving white snowflakes everywhere. Ive been putting up with this for quite a few years as I havent been using the foul-weather gear regularly. But this past April, I departed for French Polynesia and started using the gear regularly. After almost six months of cruising, I sent West Marine corporate (www.westmarine.com) an email about my issue, fully expecting the too old, too long ago, too whatever response. To my very pleasant surprise, I received a reply from Glenna in customer service, who had found my receipt in their computer; she gave me instructions to take the foul-weather gear to the local store for replacement or credit. The Honolulu store manager was super nice and helpful. I now have a new set of Third Reef foul-weather gear! Thanks and kudos to West Marine!
Richard Hacker
Via email
Forespar
Thanks to Randall Risvold at Forespar (www.forespar.com). For an old-boat restoration, I chose Forespar Series93 Marelon seacocks that come equipped with the appropriate through-hull. Post-installation, I carried out pre-launch testing of all five seacocks by back-flooding the internal hose; the 3/4-inch head intake showed a leak under the backing pad (Series93 come with a neat plug that is used the block the through-hull). After removing the skin fitting with judicious use of a Forsner bit, and removing the remnants of the thread from the valve body, I found that I had indeed neglected to seal the thread. As the through-hull is a special thread, to match that of the Series93, I contacted Forespar with my tale of woe. Randall didnt hesitate to send me a replacement through-hull at no cost. Many thanks for excellent support for an excellent product.
Paul Peachey
Snowbird / project-boater in Florida
