Remote Boat Monitoring

[ZGhost]

Wondering what others are using for remote boat monitoring while the boat is in storage or sitting in marina or sitting on your lift? Things to monitor would be water intrusion, smoke, heat, battery, boat location, camera to view, and the like. Another member (@marcham) mentioned Zigboat.com in another thread under a different topic so I thought to start this slightly different topic in this thread as the focus is a bit broader.

Anyone has any experience with zigboat products and can provide a quick review? Www.zigboat.com
Anyone uses a different product willing to share insights?

my boat sits in storage and my main interest would be camera and GPS location in case it’s moved or stolen, I’d be notified on my phone (yes insurance is best and I have it but who wants to go thru that and wait for new boat where no new boats can be had in a crazy COVID year). Also others might be interested in other parameters to monitor hence this thread.

Thought about keeping an older cell phone hidden in there where you can track it by GPS location but this involves monthly phone service fees. Was hoping for something without ongoing expenses like the zigboat products but wanted to see if anyone had any experience with them.

 

[Elliott]

I do not use anything - my boat is over 10 feet off the ground in a rack at a marina inside my gated community with security patrols and video surveillance. Most importantly, my boat is surrounded by much more expensive boats.

However if I did get a system, I would look at Siren Marine. They have been around for 10 years, and they have everything you might want including cellular and satellite connectivity.

Siren Marine

Monitor, track, control & secure your boat with Siren Marine's smart boat technology. Our remote monitoring & security system, featuring the new Siren 3 Pro, allows you to stay connected to your boat anywhere, anytime. Peace of mind for boaters - Welcome to the Connected Boat®.

sirenmarine.com

 

[ZGhost]

I do not use anything - my boat is over 10 feet off the ground in a rack at a marina inside my gated community with security patrols and video surveillance. Most importantly, my boat is surrounded by much more expensive boats.

However if I did get a system, I would look at Siren Marine. They have been around for 10 years, and they have everything you might want including cellular and satellite connectivity.

Siren Marine

Monitor, track, control & secure your boat with Siren Marine's smart boat technology. Our remote monitoring & security system, featuring the new Siren 3 Pro, allows you to stay connected to your boat anywhere, anytime. Peace of mind for boaters - Welcome to the Connected Boat®.

sirenmarine.com

This is fancy and looks very interesting. Little spendy. Some additional google search, I came across this comparison:

 

[Elliott]

You would need to verify the comparison chart; it is often the case that they are inaccurate (intentionally or by mistake).
Your connectivity is also of prime importance. If the connectivity is via wifi, your stolen or drifting boat will soon lose connectivity making the system useless. You also need to compare price based on an apples to apples cellular link and/or satellite. You might want or need the satellite if your boat is in an area of poor cellular coverage, on the border or on the coast. Again if your boat floats out to sea or to some remote lake cove with no cell signal or it is taken out of the country, satellite is your only option.

 

[ZGhost]

You would need to verify the comparison chart; it is often the case that they are inaccurate (intentionally or by mistake).
Your connectivity is also of prime importance. If the connectivity is via wifi, your stolen or drifting boat will soon lose connectivity making the system useless. You also need to compare price based on an apples to apples cellular link and/or satellite. You might want or need the satellite if your boat is in an area of poor cellular coverage, on the border or on the coast. Again if your boat floats out to sea or to some remote lake cove with no cell signal or it is taken out of the country, satellite is your only option.

Agreed. Satellite connectivity would be the way to go for location which most use anyway. Cellular 3G or 4G is used for sending monitored telemetry and notifications for the various sensors. Thanks @Elliott for your thoughts

 

[zipper]

I do have a bilge alarm and a smoke detector on the Beneteau. They are not monitored remotely. We did install a Blink WiFi camera to monitor weather conditions at the boat. A couple of days before I installed the camera, a storm cell with 60mph winds whipped thru the Waterfront. It released our Genoa sail and it started to unfurl. If a transient sailboater had not seen the issue as it happened and jumped on board to secure the sail, it would have been a $3k insurance claim. It was nice to be able to see what was going on at the boat after that.



It was nice to see Lou, my slip neighbor who ownes the black boat in the picture, checking on my lines to make sure all is secure. And he now has my cell #.

 

[tdonoughue]

Good moral: Be nice to your neighbors. They may help watch after your stuff...