Since I had purchased it from West Marine, I went to them to see about
an exchange, since I was in the middle of a local cruise. They were very
helpful and willing to exchange it but discovered that the Sepectrum+
had been discontinued and none of the stores had any left in stock.

Why didn't you just get a different radio, which would be the safest option?
West Marine has replaced electronics after nearly a year for me. They actually
took back a GPS after 3 months because a new model came out that I prefered.
When a handheld died on me, they replaced it with a better model for the same
price and sent me a gift card! I get ****ed at them for having limited stock,
but they have always been on the ball otherwise.

RB