Lew, I had the same problem with an older manual SOS. I had to fly home from a regatta in St Pete FL and decided to leave the CO2 at the YC.
So I got home and 2 months later, in April, I decided it was time to recharge the thing. Long story short...it took until August to find the freakin CO2 cartridge, including on-line searches to paintball pistol companies, etc. Finally: believe it or not, West Marine tracked one down. Seems they have (or had) a bunch of old Stearns rearm kits and they did a regional search for the kit and FOUND ONE! BUT: because the damn thing is compressed air, there are Hazmat regulations that prevent it being shipped by truck (cant go thru the Harbor Tunnel) and cant get shipped by air (cargo regs) at least, LEGALLY. So, basically, I arranged for it to be shipped to Annapolis (no tunnels to go thru) and picked it up when I had a regatta down there. Bottom line: WHAT A PAIN IN THE REAR!!!! took FOUR MONTHS! Good luck, but I would recommend stopping in West Marine and seeing what they can do for you! good luck hombre!! --tf
