Do you think an alarm is necessary?

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Lichfield

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Hi

I have just bought my first boat, a 27ft cabin cruiser. It's going to be kept for most the time on a swinging mooring on the south coast. I am having the boat refurbished and I am looking to add an alarm system to detect if its broken into, moves from its mooring, of if its in danger of being swamped.

Our's is not a top of the line boat but still cost us a fair amount of money and I assumed that boat alarms like I describe would be common.

However I am struggling to find others who share my concern or have such an alarm. There are plenty of other things I need to buy and therefore I am reassessing and I have two questions, please.

1) Do you think an alarm is needed (do you recommend them to your friends, and know others who use them) ?

2) Can you recommend a particular brand/type ?
 
The question is what do you expect to happen if the alarm goes off - if as with cars they are only any use if you are within earshot of your own boat - no other bugger is likley to do anything about it other than to complain about the noise.

The boat I'm buying is fitter with one and I shall be taking it out. I doubt if it works, we berth in a secure marina and one less electrical drain on the battery.
 
I disagree with whitemischief... firstly, check your insurance policy to see what that states as it may insist you have some form of security fitted or it's kept in some sort of secure envorment... secondly, with the right alarm fitted, there's little drain on the battery and the alarm options with GPS, flood sensors, monitoring microphones and SMS texting do give you options if something's taken, something breaks or the boats goes adrift.

ask those who've had a boat slowly sink on the mooring if they would have welcomed a text message from a bilge pump or water sensor kicking in before it's too late?

The alarm I have fitted is a basic car alarm that gives a verbal statement it's armed as the first deterant, and it has a GPS fitted so I can set up an SMS alarm similar to an anchor watch should the boat move outside a 'GPS fence'.. I can also switch the alarm from alarm mode to listen mode so should something untoward happen I can listen in i.e. if I hear folk on board I can call the marina office or feds and have them take a look for me

In short, with the combination of GPS, SMS/HTML altering, sensors and monitoring microphon, I can keep a virtual eye out on the boat from afar.

p.s. car alarm £15 from boot sale (retails at £120).. GPS tracker £40 off Ebay... £55 in my case for peace of mind.. I can't think why you wouldn't want to do it
 
Sorry should have clarified - its only the basic car alarm type I wouldn't bother with, the other stuff all has a point - you can take some action to remedy the situation
 
Thanks - that's interesting

I agree a basic car alarm is not what I had planned it would just be annoying.

I was interested by a few systems I have seen with varying degrees of complexity that allow me (and some others) to be notified by phone if something happens which I need to know about... moved from mooring, taking on water, or an intruder. Actually the intruder is the last of my worries on its home mooring.

I am interested in the low cost of what you have put together oGaryo, but wonder if its beyond my capability. Not sure what kind of GPS tracker you mean?

I was also wondering about the other features some of these things offer. The ability to monitor my boat (get a status and location) is nice - but probably a frippery. But other remote commands my be useful such as the ability to remotely turn on heaters or fridge, monitor battery levels and turn on lights (when I can't find it on a crowded berth or rafted up with others on swinging visitor mooring).

I know I have a lot of starter questions here, and I apologise for that. But the biggest question that is rattling around my head is why so few other boaters share my concerns and have alarm/monitor system - or so I am told. I have spoken to 5 chandlers today, to see what they'd recommend, and they all told me they'd never sold an alarm/monitor like I describe.

I agree with oGaryo, "I can't think why you wouldn't want to do it" ... but then I am newbie to all of this.
 
We are on a swinger - along with many others in the same area - I don't know of any with alarms or warning systems on.
We live close enough to the boat that if we were concerned we could get down to check up easily. There are enough people around that anything glaringly 'wrong' would be picked up and we'd get a phone call - or often if it is just something trivial then they just 'fix' it (usually something that just needs securing) ..

Moved from her mooring - is it a concern? Yes and No - yes I don't want her stolen, but it is unlikely - so it's not really a concern that it will happen. We ensure we have good mooring lines to the buoy and the gear is checked twice a year.

Intruders - We leave everything out of sight and curtains drawn - yes they could break in, but it is a bit of a trudge to get to us so unlikely unless they're targetting our area - in which case an audio alarm wouldn't help and although I could be notified there is little I could do to prevent them

Water ingress - we don't have a seriously leaky boat - the worst we've had it is with a leaky skin fitting and I checked the boat 24hr, 48hr then 72hr. Seacocks are closed when we leave the boat so little to go wrong.

Monitoring batteries - we have a solar panel onboard to keep them topped up.

Turning fridges/heaters on and off remotely - yes - a handy feature, but not essential so we haven't bothered - more important things to spend the money on!
 
Lichfield said:
I agree a basic car alarm is not what I had planned it would just be annoying.

I was interested by a few systems I have seen with varying degrees of complexity that allow me (and some others) to be notified by phone if something happens which I need to know about... moved from mooring, taking on water, or an intruder. Actually the intruder is the last of my worries on its home mooring.

I am interested in the low cost of what you have put together oGaryo, but wonder if its beyond my capability. Not sure what kind of GPS tracker you mean?

I was also wondering about the other features some of these things offer. The ability to monitor my boat (get a status and location) is nice - but probably a frippery. But other remote commands my be useful such as the ability to remotely turn on heaters or fridge, monitor battery levels and turn on lights (when I can't find it on a crowded berth or rafted up with others on swinging visitor mooring).

I know I have a lot of starter questions here, and I apologise for that. But the biggest question that is rattling around my head is why so few other boaters share my concerns and have alarm/monitor system - or so I am told. I have spoken to 5 chandlers today, to see what they'd recommend, and they all told me they'd never sold an alarm/monitor like I describe.

I agree with oGaryo, "I can't think why you wouldn't want to do it" ... but then I am newbie to all of this.
Click to expand...

Here you go, htis is the model I have... easy to setup as it have both 12v positive and negative trigger inputs to send you sms text alerts depending in the type of output from whatever alarm you fit to monitor whatever it is you want to monitor... I went for wired as I don't trust the wireless alarms and am a bit loathe to state which one for hopefully obvious reasons but suffice to say all entry point to the boat are monitored.

to setup the text messging you text the number of the sim car 10 x with a passcode and the sending mobile then becomes your prgrammer or you can setup to access the unit via the web.. I've gone for sms commands... all pretty simple.

there's UK based outlets too on Ebay with BIN prices of around 50 quid Example GPS Tracker
 
Any boat security is a good thing, and many insurers are insisting on some sort of security system unless we want rocketing premiums, which obviously we do not.

Many have been mentioned, along with their features, and yes SMS messaging is a handy function as you can contact the marina if an alert is received, and they can check. If it is not a false alarm they can contact the Police, and if possible, reposition their security cameras to identify the culprits and any vehicles they have, if they have zoom facilities they can get the required frame size pictures of any culprits.

Other options include fitting uprated locks to doors and windows, and any hatches can be internally bolted with cheap locks and hasps, this can be done over a period of time.
 
It can be argued that obvious security may deter the casual thief out for a bit of easy money but advertises to the more premeditating type of villain that here is a worthwhile target for his time and effort. When we kept a boat on a more remote mooring I made a point of taking as much away as possible. Having said that, the idea of the monitoring system is very attractive, anyone any informaiton on false positives?
 
We have a solid state bilge alarm on the boat and as it is moored in a boatyard, the noise will wake the dead and the adjacent liveaboards have our mobile numbers.

If we moor in a remote spot, with no-one to hear the alarm, we connect it to a SMS unit that will text our mobiles.

We can use the same system to switch our heating on before we arrive in the winter.

All things are possible with the technology available these days - you just need to decide how far you wish to go with your boat and set of circumstances.
 
We have C-POD, monitors break in, low battery, water in bilge & lets you know if it moves, you can also track including speed etc. Can be controlled by Computer over the net or Mobile by text or net. Sends us text messages in an event, usually battery when someones unplugged the shore power.
 
NB Willawaw
Do you mind saying what make your system is?

Rubberduck
I have phoned around about c-pod, can't find anyone who stocks it (to see it), and i hear there are monthly charges too to cover data - can you confirm?

Thanks
 
Alarms

Nine boats down the line and have never thought those precautions necessary; as has been said, check with insurers first.

Personally I am much more concerned to have an approved fire safety system which includes an annual professional check, also an approved gas system which is replaced every five years.

Objectively, this is about how much your boat is worth compared with your income and other outgoings. But are we really talking about the heartache if our pride and joy were to be damaged or stolen? And can we quantify that?

And where does Her Indoors come into the equation . . ?
 
There are general purpose systems which revolve around a GSM sender using a PAYG SIM and integrated GPS and they could be adapted to send a text to the boat owner or others when a bilge sensor or door/hatch sensor is activated, text if the battery voltage goes below a preset level, text if the boat leaves a pre-determined geographical area and be used to switch on something like a light or fridge, etc from the owners mobile.

I don't think its a big deal technically.
 
Last edited:
I finally made a purchase

Thanks for all responses.

After a lot of research I have finally made a selection. I am concerned about theft, but its not a priority given that I am on the south coast of Ireland most the time. Monitoring the boat at anchor and on my swinging mooring are more important (and getting the boat warm before my wife gets on board too).

I looked at c-pod, but was put off by the ongoing charges which seemed unnecessary. I considered yacht sentinel, but opted instead for BoatWarden. If others are interested I shall update when its fitted.
 
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