All I know is it sucks.

I don't necessarily think there is anything shady going on with the timing. If anything, it sounds like the shady behavior was leaving the boats in service for so long and issuing reports in the last year that ignored the most significant of problems. You have to imagine what the response would be (especially legally) is they hadn't pulled the boats and one went down.

Personally, I'd rather just sign a waiver, bring an extra PFD, and take my chances.

-Kaiser D.