Much as I love to hate tech, I have to admit that it’s incredibly helpful when it comes to goodies like side-finder fishfinders and real-time imaging. Well, it might be time to add another thing to the list: remote monitoring for boats. This has become more and more popular in recent years, and essentially, means adding some sensors to your boat that connect it with the IoT. It’s been pricey to do so up until now, but the cost has been steadily falling and at this point, some boat manufacturers are even offering systems as factory-installed options.
These days you can get a complete monitoring system for a couple hundred bucks, and if you want to get remote control, too, with most systems that just means buying some additional relays and sensors. The initial cost is, of course, only part of the equasion – you’ll also have to activate a plan since these operate via cellular, which generally ranges from $8.00 to $15.00 a month.
So, what does that expenditure get you? A whole lot of piece of mind. You can check on your boat’s whereabouts at any time merely by opening up an app on your phone. You can get an alert if someone unexpectedly steps aboard, or opens a hatch or door that’s supposed to remain closed. And the system can ping your phone if water is collecting in the bilge or the battery level drops below a preset charge level. In at least one case, Siren Marine (which is owned by Yamaha), the system can also monitor your engines and tell you when service is needed. Or if you happen to own a yacht you can use the system to turn on the air conditioning or turn off the lights while you sit at home on the couch, with a mere swipe of your finger.
Why has a tech-hater like me grown to love these systems? I put one on my boat to test, then pretty much forgot about it. At least, I did until one day when my phone began blowing up. The system was screaming at me that my bilge water level was high, which I assumed was a false alarm. But the marina is only a few minutes away and it had been pouring rain for days, so I ran down to check it out. And sure enough, a pump had failed and the boat was sitting dangerously low in the water. I might hate the tech, but I’m not too old to learn that I need to use it.