Question:
Yesterday, I noticed a fire equipment service truck setup in front of the marina office and line up of the marina and some boat owners fire extinguishers. My dry chemical and Halon 1211 had been service only 10 months previously so I wasn't really interested, but I ask how much he was charging to inspect and retag the extinquisher. $8 per bottle if it didn't need anything. He was weighing the bottle contents and testing the pressure of the propellent. If you needed dry powder or propellent, he added that for a fee.. However, one fellow had a Halon 1211 and he was told that he would add some propellent and that it would cost $150. Now this Halon bottle still had the needle in the green zone so it didn't need propellent. I guess they figure they should charge this fees since he is handling 'hazardous material' (Not). More likely, it's situation of 'what ever the traffic will bare'. While hanging out with the few boaters and the marina manager, I ask the tech, how often these boat extinguisher 'had' to be serviced. Answer "annually". I resisted the temptation to jump up on my "know-it-all soap box" and kept my mouth shut. I know that for the marina buildings and docks, they need to meet local building codes and an annual inspection is required. However USCG only requires that a REC. Boat have the required size, type and number of the extinguishers. They will only verify that they are in serviceable condition and that the gage be in the green zone. The USCG has no requirement that the these extinguishers be inspected/serviced/tagged annually. I found this out at my last marina, during my "marina required" annual boat inspection by they USCG Aux... They don't even care if you have tamper seal on the release. They recommend that you periodically shake up the dry powder in the dry chemical ext. since it tends to cake due to vibration. If you ever crack the valve open for some reason, you should insure that the bottle doesn't leak down because of powder under the valve seat.

Answer: My insurance policy specifically states that if the boat is equipped with an automatic fire extinguishing system in the engine room, that the insured agrees to have the system inspected, weighed if necessessary and tagged anually. Interestingly, my Navigator does not have an engine room system, but the Egg Harbor does. Both boats are diesel powered. Now I have another question. I installed Switlic life pods on both boats. I do not do charters, whereby an approved life raft or life pod system is required, but felt it was a good idea since we often do some offshore fishing and cruising. These systems are supposed to be returned to an approved inspection station annually, tested, and stamped on a metal plate that the inspection was done. Now the question. Since technically, I am not required to have them, but chose to, I don't do charters .... am I still required to have them inspected annually?