Security alarms

Jaxg

.
Jun 30, 2019
20
Hunter 37 Cherubini Jacksonville
I get the feeling this question has to have been asked and I searched briefly and could find no post addressing this.

I’d like a simple alarm system that lets me know someone is screwing with my dingy, or very close to my vessel. I’m thinking bright LED light and a loud audible alert. It seems that most motion activated systems will give constant false alarms due to the natural movement of the boat at anchor. Is there a better system than the common motion activated flood light type sensor?

I’d prefer something that will work in conjunction with my mast mounted 50cal machine guns, but let’s just start with this. lol!

thanks
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
lets me know someone is screwing with my dingy, or very close to my vessel
As you noted, false alarms would be problematic. However there are various boat alarm systems that will trigger based on pressure sensors, PIR motion sensors, and traditional alarm system magnetic-proximity contact sensors. I use a system from BoatCommand.com which uses cellular radio to alert me by text/email. It monitors GPS position (with geo-fencing and tracking), battery voltage for 2 banks (with threshold alerts), sump pump activity (threshold alerts for pump staying on too long or triggering too many times in a settable period), contact sensors and motion sensor. It can also trigger a connected siren. Even if I don't get an alert, it's reassuring to be able to check on the boat's position and battery voltage status from my phone or computer via the web. The geo-fencing feature is not granular enough to be used as a true anchor alarm (minimum 25 yards radius setting, if I recall correctly) but I can view the boat's position on a satellite view overlay in real-time whenever I leave the boat. This is a nice feature to be able to check when anchored and we're ashore.
My motion sensor is inside the boat so it would only trigger after someone has entered. The motion sensor has not been 100% percent reliable, and has triggered false alarms a few times per year when I'm away from the boat. A few times I have called the boatyard to check on the false alarms with negative results, or gone to the boat myself, and eventually decided to ignore the motion alerts. I disconnected the motion sensor because ignoring alerts just causes anxiety, but it might be a deterrent if a siren is added. (A siren for a false alarm is annoying to neighbors, and I haven't done it for that reason. We've all witnessed ignored car alarms, and I've heard stories of random people vandalizing a car with an alarm that's too annoying).
 
Last edited:
Jan 24, 2017
666
Hunter 34 Toms River Nj
master lock and 1/4 inch chain should due the trick

A fellow boater was concerned that in the off season his boat could be broken into, so he installed a fake batery operated security camera. It looks real with flashing lights and all. He bought it on Amazon for about $20
 

TomY

Alden Forum Moderator
Jun 22, 2004
2,758
Alden 38' Challenger yawl Rockport Harbor
@TomY He looks too cute to leave on board protecting the boat while you go ashore and feast on Lobster.
Looks friendly but woe betide to the stranger that approaches the boat. :)

I'm reminded by these threads that we live in la la land up here, at least for now.

Boats, cars and even houses around the harbor are rarely locked.

If you do find a boat that is locked and you need to get in (sinking perhaps?), the local assumption is that the key is beneath the closed compass slide, at the binnacle (I leave my key in the ignition, same with car :) ).
 
Mar 1, 2012
2,182
1961 Rhodes Meridian 25 Texas coast
One of the very best warnings I've ever heard was on a boat in a marina with a pressure mat in the cockpit
They had speakers up on the mast and a tape to play.

If some one stepped into the cockpit, the alarm would go- loudly. THEN a speaker would start-

Help, help- boat so in so in slip so in so is being robbed- Help, help- boat so in so in slip so in so is being robbed
OVER AND OVER

We occasionally saw a few folks scurry back off the docks quite quickly. Several liveaboards had the facility to shut off the noise

They never lost anything :)
 
Oct 19, 2017
7,733
O'Day 19 Littleton, NH
My father talked about mounting the slide of a pump action shotgun over his bunk, just the slide. He figured the sound of a round being chambered into a shotgun was enough to warn intruders to get off.

I, like Tom, live in La La Land. It is so sad to hear about the need to lock up outboards or take them with you. I guess, even up here, we get the occasional maddening trespass. I was very upset when I discovered someone had pulled my name tag off my crawfish trap and thrown it in the weeds to steal my trap.

-Will (Dragonfly)
 

Tom J

.
Sep 30, 2008
2,301
Catalina 310 Quincy, MA
My father talked about mounting the slide of a pump action shotgun over his bunk, just the slide. He figured the sound of a round being chambered into a shotgun was enough to warn intruders to get off.

I, like Tom, live in La La Land. It is so sad to hear about the need to lock up outboards or take them with you. I guess, even up here, we get the occasional maddening trespass. I was very upset when I discovered someone had pulled my name tag off my crawfish trap and thrown it in the weeds to steal my trap.

-Will (Dragonfly)
Yes, the sound of the shotgun action being cycled is very distinctive! I have to laugh when a character on TV pumps the slide several times, without firing a shot. Ammo? We don't need no stinking ammo!
 
Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
Yes, the sound of the shotgun action being cycled is very distinctive! I have to laugh when a character on TV pumps the slide several times, without firing a shot. Ammo? We don't need no stinking ammo!
A retired cop behind the counter at a gun store where I took a friend said don't buy a handgun for home protection. Buy a 20 Gauge pump action shotgun. They (the state police) did a survey of home invasion robbers in prison about the sound they feared the most. It wasn't a siren or a dog or handgun being cocked - it was the sound of a pump action shotgun. He recommended a "youth model" 20 gauge pump action. Easy to handle and swing around, light, and won't scare your wife the first time you take her to the range to practice like a 12 gauge will. Will still do the job inside a closed space nicely. I own one that I used to use to kill copperheads around the house and barn in Tennessee. I always left it by the back door (unloaded of course) and when boys came to pick up my daughter for a date it "made an immediate impression on them" although that wasn't my intent. :wink3:
 
Feb 11, 2017
122
former Tartan 30 New London, CT area
Years ago, the old codger moored W of me had a air horn rigged so a spring loaded lever would press the button. A pin held the lever in the 'safe' position. A nylon mono line was rigged in the cockpit and one end would pull the pin. He came to his boat one morning and found a face mask and a pair of flippers in the cockpit.
 
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Likes: Tom J
Oct 26, 2010
1,883
Hunter 40.5 Beaufort, SC
Years ago, the old codger moored W of me had a air horn rigged so a spring loaded lever would press the button. A pin held the lever in the 'safe' position. A nylon mono line was rigged in the cockpit and one end would pull the pin. He came to his boat one morning and found a face mask and a pair of flippers in the cockpit.
and a small pile of brown stuff with flys on it!
 
Feb 21, 2013
4,638
Hunter 46 Point Richmond, CA
..............I’d like a simple alarm system that lets me know someone is screwing with my dingy, or very close to my vessel.......................
Wireless / wifi-less Reolink GO 3G/4G LTE with a solar panel. Requires a sim card from a provider like Freedompot costing $7/month for 1 G/month. Day and night vision is fantastic. You get 24x7 display and battery monitoring on your cell phone. Includes a two-way radio and siren, albeit not very loud.