Boat Alarms

[hagel]

Does anyone have experience with boat alarms? Recently we've had a lot of theft at the marinas on our lake. Someone is coming in at night (assumed from the water) and sealing chart plotters, audio / video equipment, engine parts, etc... Having an open bow boat, I realize I'm limited on what I can protect, but would like something similar to a car alarm where if anything attached to power (Audio equipment, chart plotter, etc...) is unhooked, or any hatches / storage doors are opened, an alarm will sound. I've only found alarms targeted at larger cruisers, or a few two ways targeting bass boats (but the reviews aren't great). Thanks in advance!

 

[Bt Doctur]

Yes, one that is 100% effective, place 2 cinder blocks and some rope on your boat.
Find a hide about 100 Yards away, snipe the SOB,attach cinder blocks and go into the bay,release the anchor.
Or
If you have shore power and a tv remote and a neon transformer and some screen for a grid
electrocute the SOB and follow the above directions.

 

[mobocracy]

I would think there would be some high tech way to measure the DC system such that removal of any component would result in a significant change in the circuit and set off an alarm.

I've been tempted to strap one of those game cameras to a piling at our slip so I at least have some idea who goes on or off the boat when I'm not around. Our marina owner lives on property and his house has 360 sightlines of the entire place, so even if thefts spike elsewhere on the lake we don't get hit.

 

[wrvond]

Seems to me that an alarm that sounds after the damage is done will have limited effectiveness. Have you considered motion sensing devices?

 

[tdgard]

Which lake/marina are you in? I'm slipped in Allatoona Landing and have heard some pretty disturbing reports this winter. It sounds like these people are targeting very specific motor parts and then also ripping off anything of opportunity while they are there. Either these parts are ending up on Craigslist, or there is a "repair" guy getting his parts list in order. I too am wondering how to prevent this. A screeching alarm at 3am may stop it. Cameras. Maybe. I'm a little reluctant to invest a bunch of money just to watch some guys in hoodies rip me off. My yearly lease is due next month and I feel that the marina needs to be as invested in this as I am. This should die off within the next month when traffic on the docks is greater, but I'll be pissed when my top end is gone the next time I try to start the boat.

 

[Arickosmo]

Also, don't forget to report every incident. Marinas dont like to be known as crime centers. Bad for business and they usually react by protecting the customers.

 

[hagel]

Seems to me that an alarm that sounds after the damage is done will have limited effectiveness. Have you considered motion sensing devices?

Yes, I agree. Upon further searching, I've found a couple of systems that attach to the canvas, and when a snap is undone the alarm would sound. I'm concerned with motion sensing devices as the boat is in the water, so I don't want strong storms or wildlife setting it off.

Which lake/marina are you in? I'm slipped in Allatoona Landing and have heard some pretty disturbing reports this winter. It sounds like these people are targeting very specific motor parts and then also ripping off anything of opportunity while they are there. Either these parts are ending up on Craigslist, or there is a "repair" guy getting his parts list in order. I too am wondering how to prevent this. A screeching alarm at 3am may stop it. Cameras. Maybe. I'm a little reluctant to invest a bunch of money just to watch some guys in hoodies rip me off. My yearly lease is due next month and I feel that the marina needs to be as invested in this as I am. This should die off within the next month when traffic on the docks is greater, but I'll be pissed when my top end is gone the next time I try to start the boat.

Lake Allatoona, Park Marina. We were at Allatoona Landing a few years ago. Unfortunately it appears all of the marinas are getting hit pretty hard this winter. From what I've heard, it seems like they are coming in off the water, so unless they can get the registration numbers off the side of their boat it may be hard to identify them (as you mention, guys in hoodies or blurry night quality video). I'm hoping the alarm would scare them off before they could actually get to anything on the boat. I know Glad Marina has installed Camera's on all of their docks.

 

[Arickosmo]

We have a security problem as well. Based on the fact that your marina owner at Park Landing is the same as my home marina, I doubt you'll have any luck getting help. I don't even bother calling the management anymore unless I must. If there's a security problem I just call the local PD and file a report.

 

[hagel]

We have a security problem as well. Based on the fact that your marina owner at Park Landing is the same as my home marina, I doubt you'll have any luck getting help. I don't even bother calling the management anymore unless I must. If there's a security problem I just call the local PD and file a report.

Yep, they marina gives the same canned response each time, increase rates every season, and rarely provides any upgrades to show for it. They said they are looking into security cameras, etc... but it's "challenging".

 

[Molson]

pressure pad(s) under the carpet attached to a loud siren with a discreet on/off switch. If someone steps between the seats, or where ever you put it, it will sound for a preset amount of time.

 

[CliffA]

I use a D-link cloud based camera on my boat mounted on the radar arch and it does a great job....all you need is an internet connection and 110VAC power to run the camera....no monthly charges....it sends me email alerts on my smartphone when motion is detected and records a short video on an SD card....I can connect to the camera with my phone as well as control the pan and tilt function and watch the recorded videos....and it has two way voice communication....it can also be set to detect sounds and make short recordings of the sound....the dB setting for the sound detection is adjustable....

it uses both motion sensors and infra red sensors to detect intruders/motion day and night.....the sensitivity of the motion sensor can be adjusted and the detection area can be adjusted to lessen the possibility of false alarms....but I have found if I leave the camera pointed into the cockpit of my boat I don't get any false alarms.....but if I set the camera where it can see the dock I will get motion alarms if the sensitivity is set high and the boat rocks from a large wake....

here are a couple images from the camera showing the dock behind my boat and the inside of the cockpit.....

and the cost of the camera was very reasonable....around $150 if I am remembering correctly....

plus I put a sign on my transom door alerting intruders of a security camera in use.....

this is not fool proof but it may slow an intruder down and maybe make him think about hitting another boat instead of mine that does not have a camera....

cliff

 

[Chitownred0512]

Where did you get it cliff?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[CliffA]

Where did you get it cliff?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

https://www.amazon.com/D-Link-DCS-5222L-Wi-Fi-Camera-White/dp/B008915L2O

 

[The Bill Collector]

Simply Safe cellular-based alarm system is what I purchased... No contract, $25/mo for monitoring. I got basics, door switches, motion detector, and then added smoke, CO2, freezing and water detection....

 

[insfnds]

I use standard car alarms with the flashing LED clearly visible. The 'parking lights output' is wired to the Nav lights so if it is triggered, they flash along with the alarm sounding. The transom door and storage lockers are wired with magnetic switches (which were also wired to automatically turn on the lights in the lockers) which will trigger the alarm. Of course this probably won't work on a bowrider. An IR motion sensor would probably work with the least amount of false alarms. On one of my boats I had a RF motion sensor (made or jeeps or other soft-tops) and it would trigger if my dock neighbor keyed his VHF. Obviously, motion/breaking-glass sensors don't work on a slipped boat.

That all being said, I think the flashing LED is the real deterrent. I figure/hope the thieves will just move on to the next boat if they know I have an alarm. I've never had an issue after installing but I was broke into once and had a second attempted break-in on two different boats before I install the alarms.

 

[CliffA]

this sign on my transom door and my cloud based camera seems to work well enough to at least give a thief something to think about before he boards my boat.....it is just hanging on top of the door so when we are on the boat we hang the sign on the back of the door when it is open so the sign is not visible....

cliff

 

[FG Anniv]

this sign on my transom door and my cloud based camera seems to work well enough to at least give a thief something to think about before he boards my boat.....it is just hanging on top of the door so when we are on the boat we hang the sign on the back of the door when it is open so the sign is not visible....

cliff

So....did you need access to the marina wifi router to set up the camera?

I'd like to add something similar to my boat, but I no longer have access to the marina wifi router.

 

[CliffA]

So....did you need access to the marina wifi router to set up the camera?

I'd like to add something similar to my boat, but I no longer have access to the marina wifi router.

you must have an internet connection to use a cloud based camera....you can set up the Wi-Fi connection without physically being at the router....you can establish the connection wirelessly...

if you don't have Wi-Fi you could use a 3G/4G connection but that would eat up data while the camera was active......

as other options just putting up the sign without having an active camera may be enough to deter a thief.....maybe even installing a dummy camera would help....

cliff