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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

General Sailing Forum

floating watchguards.. some thoughts

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Sam Nelson
1st Mate

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USA
64 Posts

Initially Posted - 05/16/2002 : 23:05:51

Another thread got me thinking about putting alarms on boats. I own a business heavy into electronics, two-way radio, wireless data, etc. I'm curious what the members might think about the viability of systems aboard to sense various problems and alert the owner?
This is neither difficult nor very expensive to do... the only problem would be getting the message to the owner. There are various ways to do this (paging, message from an answering service, recorded announcements on your cell phone, etc) but all involve up-front and reoccuring costs.
Any thoughts out there? Am I about to re-invent the wheel? Someone stop me before I do it again!

Sam Nelson
C25 "Stratos" #3811

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Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1768 Posts

Response Posted - 05/16/2002 : 23:42:49

Hi Sam,

Not long ago I was also thinking about boat security ... here is the thread in case you missed it:

http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=990

There were some interesting points of view, but not too many solutions. I bought one of those "personal alarms" ... I haven't installed it yet, but I plan to rig it to the hatch boards somehow.

I don't know if a loud siren would do the trick, but it would be better than nothing at all (unless it went off accidentally and only annoyed everyone at the marina). Anyway, it was heartbreaking to read about JM Miller's recent boat break-in:

http://www.catalina25-250.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1146

... I hope we don't hear about any more of those!

If you have any ideas about how we might be able to deter break-ins, I'm all ears.

Thanks!

Buzz Maring, C-25 SK/SR #68, "Freya"

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Sam Nelson
1st Mate

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USA
64 Posts

Response Posted - 05/17/2002 : 16:36:19

Sure, sirens, bells, horns all work to (normally) scare off an intruder....unless he thinks no one is around to hear it. And, if no one is around to hear it and the alarm is actually tripped by rising water in the bilge, or smoke... what then?
What I'm thinking about is actually alerting the boat owner, no matter where he may be.
It's a wired wired world!
Sam

Sam Nelson
C25 "Stratos" #3811

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RichardG
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 05/17/2002 : 17:50:58

Sam:

I don't know if there would be a market for that type of device. I think most boat owners currently depend on their neighbors or marina managers to provide warnings of a listing hull, smoke, etc. while away. Now what was that "contact in case of emergency number"? The question is -- how much are boat owners willing to spend for the marginal level of warning (real or perceived -- aka marketing) that such a device would give over that which is currently included in their slip (or mooring) fees?

RichardG 81 C25 SR/FK "Sanity"

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Sam Nelson
1st Mate

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USA
64 Posts

Response Posted - 05/22/2002 : 23:08:35

True enough about depending on the Marina or other boaters. I have this rampant tendency to invent stuff with no market... Wanna buy an electric bull whip?

We already sell a similiar service to ranchers/farmers who want to know when a gate is opened, etc.... it would be easy to add boaters if only they (the boaters) would be reasonable and cough up money!

Ah well, back to wireless internet access.

later all!

Sam Nelson
C25 "Stratos" #3811

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Rick Heaverly 86 C25 5382
Navigator

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Belize
206 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2002 : 07:28:20

Sam,

Does that electric bull whip come with handcuffs?

Rick Heaverly
"Invictus"

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acierno
1st Mate

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USA
62 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2002 : 08:23:01

about that lanyard activated alarm that both threads talked about--anyone have any specifics about a name, make, model for a jogging model or boat model? seems like a very easy thing to rig up
ron

ron
'mia alessandra'
250wk, hull 463

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singaporesam
Deckhand

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5 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2002 : 09:48:04

It's not an alarm but check x10.com
They have a lot of surveillance cameras and a program wherein you can monitor your boat, inside and out, from any PC in the world.
Pretty inexpensive, also.

Singaporesam

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Buzz Maring
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1768 Posts

Response Posted - 05/23/2002 : 11:10:21

<BLOCKQUOTE id=quote><font size=1 face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id=quote>quote:<hr height=1 noshade id=quote>
about that lanyard activated alarm that both threads talked about--anyone have any specifics about a name, make, model for a jogging model or boat model? seems like a very easy thing to rig up
ron

ron
'mia alessandra'
250wk, hull 463

<hr height=1 noshade id=quote></BLOCKQUOTE id=quote></font id=quote><font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size=2 id=quote>

Hi Ron,

Here is a link to the one I recently bought on eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem& item=862702637

I haven't tried to install it yet, but I don't think it will take too much imagination to figure out a way to hook it up. BTW, these gizmos are on eBay all the time ... just do a "search" if you'd like to find one to bid on. They're pretty cheap ... I'm considering getting another to hook up to the forward hatch.

If you come up with any good ideas for how to rig it, please let me know!

Buzz Maring, C-25 SK/SR #68, "Freya"

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