When Experts moved our base operation to the great Pacific Northwest in 2005, we began to get many phone calls from owners of boats and yachts. There are multitudes of privately owned vessels all along coastal waters that are prime targets for theft. These boats are often unattended while their owners go about the business of being able to afford them. That makes them prime targets as they are not difficult to board without being noticed. Boats of all sizes have several thousands of dollars worth of electronics and equipment onboard to help them navigate and operate safely.
In addition to being an easy target for criminals, owners have a large list of supervisory conditions to worry about. It’s astounding how many boats have sunk tied to the docks at the marinas they are kept in, because a bilge pump failed to operate as water naturally seeped into the bilge. There are also many other problems for boat owners to be concerned with such as unauthorized boarding’s, someone pulling the shore power plug out and not replacing it, freezing temperatures onboard because of heater failure, fire and unauthorized movement of the boat, to name a few.
As I began to research proper methods of protecting these vessels I was astounded at the statistics. There was an abundance of case history to warrant the need for security in this environment and the market was not making products available to answer the call. The few companies that saw the need and stepped up to offering solutions were making a big mistake. They were using the same alarm systems that are being installed in residential and commercial applications on the boats that wanted security.
As we researched the effects of modifying land based alarm systems for the marine environment, it became obvious that the harsh marine environment where most boats reside and operate is too harsh for these systems to be reliable in. There are inherent problems as basic as the corrosive salt air and vibration during operation. In addition to the obvious, there are choice issues such as mooring on a buoy instead of docking with an electrical source and reporting conditions without use of a phone line.
The list grew bigger with problems like wind and dock bumping causing violations on motion detectors that were not designed for these conditions. Access to expensive equipment without ever entering the interior and critters boarding without care of any of these issues, and it was quite obvious that there was a lot to be considered.
After much research we found only a few systems that were designed specifically to address the necessary concerns. These systems are enclosed in NMEA III water resistant control boxes with epoxy protected components and potted electronics. They use deck sensors to protect against unauthorized boarding’s, work on 12VDC power from the boats batteries and draw very few milliamps. Bilges are supervised for high water, smoke detectors and temperature sensors look for signs of fire and temperature extremes, High and low voltage monitors watch over shore power and battery conditions while the boat owner can set a Geo Fence around the boat that will detect movement outside of a virtual circle.
As for reporting these conditions to the boat owners and their assigned supervisors, the systems use cell communicators for inland water kept vessels or boats that will remain within the reach of cell towers. You can also choose a satellite communicator which protects the boat from anywhere in the world.
These systems report directly to the owner and assigned supervisors such as mechanics and dock master’s by cell phone and e-mail. The boat owner can access a web page just for their vessel and see the location, heading and speed in real time.
They can also remotely operate the complete system, turn on and off onboard appliances and lighting, and even shut down the engines if they wish. The Experts Know has created a dedicated marine division called Marine Guard Security and makes information and product available directly to the marine consumer through a link on our website.
You can also go directly to marineguardsecurity.com to learn more about these systems that answer the call and apply the standards of excellence that an educated consumer will insist on.
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