Reporter Wireless, catch a thief
Responding to a Hull Truth discussion about the value of DSC, a cruiser anchored in Panama reported how it just helped him deal with an intruder. 
The full story (see 8/4/07 “update” on his site) reveals that he was alarmed about the intruder by a simple wireless motion detector designed for home use and for sale at $70. Reporter Wireless looks to be a pretty powerful system, and whereas the battery operated sensor is weather proof—and it looks like the receiver can be run off a 12v supply—pretty boat worthy. The receiver, by the way, can support four sensors, and has a relay to fire a louder alarm or talk to another monitoring system. The manual is available here.
Nice unit, but this one at Harbor Freight is only $19.99
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93068
Dan
Glad to see this item make your web site. We’re the two guys that were boarded after dark here in Panama and I have to say, this device just paid for itself. We bought it because we had our gas can stolen out of our dingy a few months back (we now remove it every night). Our intent was to keep our dingy and motor safe, any hands reaching into the dingy to cut the two locking cables and three locks on the outboard would set off the motion sensor alerting us. But instead our intruder crawled from his dug out canoe, into our dingy and set off the motion sensor which in turn set off the chime in the boat, alerted us, and by the time I got into the cockpit our intruder was also in our cockpit. Anyway, won’t go more into that, you can read our site for the whole story.
But it’s a great device at a reasonable price. We have the motion sensor velcroed to the inside of the dinghy’s transom. With it’s narrow beam it protects the inside of the dingy so anyone reaching in (or crawling in) sets off the motion sensor. The motion sensor is wireless, makes no sound and runs a few months off of four AA batteries. The base unit, which we keep inside the boat, has a chime. It also has a 10 amp relay if you want to hook up a light or siren or whatever. The unit comes with an 110vac adapter which converts the 110vac to 12vdc. So we just cut off the adapter and put on a 12v plug. Works great! When we’re both off the boat we put the motion sensor under the dodger facing the cockpit and plug in the siren to the base unit. Now our big boat is protected. After our experience, we’re sold. I may even get another as a back up.
Damon and David
s/v Bruadair
http://www.bruadair.us
This incident may be slightly disturbing but did it really warrant a Mayday call on either voice or DSC? Where was the grave and immediate danger to life? The loss of a dingy is a real pain but does it constitute grave danger?
Amazon sells it for $59 at
http://rubyurl.com/LM8
(that’s a short URL redirect since the actual URL is so long)
Well, Roger, if the thief spoke up immediately, and said something to the effect that he was just there to steal a gas can, not to worry, then yes, this was too much bother. As he did not politely state his purpose, and clarify the ordinariness of his invasion, one is left to deal with the situation according to plan, i.e. “Battle Stations; repel invaders.” Since bad poo poo does happen, grace, consideration and comportment are held in abeyance. This is much the same as waking up at home with a stranger in the bedroom. Pausing to ask if he is lost and in need of directions is not strictly appropriate. The disadvantage of hindsight is that it obviously ignores the immediate nature of the situation.
While a late comment I would like to respond to Roger by saying that yes, I felt this situation did in fact warrant a distress call. The intruder was not in our dingy when we discovered him but in our cockpit at the companionway entrance. The motion sensor went off as he stepped from his dugout, into our dingy (sensor goes off) then into our cockpit. By the time I got to the companionway door he was face to face with me. Being very dark outside, not being able to see what, if anything, was in his hands or if anyone else was onboard, we both felt we were in danger. If he was just in our dingy and not in arms reach of us, then maybe a distress call would not have been warranted. When face to face with an intruder, I believe it is warranted.
Damon
s/v Bruadair