So Many Boats - So Many Thieves

There are so many boats being stolen in Florida on a daily basis, it could be considered ridiculous. Although there are boats being stolen everywhere, Florida is being targeted in particular due to the amount of fast boats kept there and its proximity to the islands where drug and human trafficking is prevalent.

It was inevitable that the insurance companies would step in and become pro active in enforcing a solution. I received a letter from Paradox Marine yesterday, announcing the availability of a scaled down and more affordable tracking unit in response to many requests from marine insurance companies. The new GPS tracker is to be marketed as Nav-Tracker 1.0.

Attached below is the announcement from Paradox Marine about this new GPS boat tracker, in response to letter that the boat insurance underwriters have begun sending out warning all boat owners that they will not be able to renew their boat insurance on stored or in the water boats, without proof of purchase of a GPS tracking system. A copy of an actual letter being sent out by Charter Lakes Marine Insurance Agency, is posted on the Marine Guard Security website here

******************************************
From: Jay Keenan, Paradox Marine
To: Marine Guard Yacht Security
Date: 11/14/08

Hello All,

I wanted to make everyone aware of a new product we are releasing in response to requests from various insurance companies to offer a low cost GPS tracking system for their customers (see attached letter that Charter Lakes Marine Insurance just sent out). The new product is called the NAV-TRACKER 1.0 and it is essentially a bare bones NAV-TRACKER. We have taken as much away from the design as possible to provide a unit that will meet the new requirements of the companies at the lowest possible cost.

The advantage of the system is low cost.

The disadvantage of the system is:

1. There is no control box, so no where to hook up sensors or a siren

2. The only way to arm/disarm the geo-fence is via the new website

(we are working on a text message based arm/disarm, but do not expect to release it until some time in the 2nd quarter of next year)

Please keep in mind that all NAV-TRACKERS will transmit through fiberglass, and should be installed in the gunwale or somewhere else on the boat where there is just fiberglass between the antenna and the sky. It is very important that there is no metal because it will interfere with the transmissions. We do not recommend installing them on the hard top for 2 reasons:

1. thieves may try to destroy the antenna

2. the first thing a lot of these guys do when they steal a boat is to cut off the T-top to give a lower
profile and avoid being picked up by radar since most boats are being used to run drugs or humans.

We have designed a special L-bracket antenna installations. It is strongly recommended that you include these brackets with all NAV-TRACKERs.