CASE-STUDY: PASSPORT 545

The owner of a brand-new luxury cruiser knew he was looking to spec a remote monitoring system when he commissioned his Passport 545. “I wanted to be able to monitor the security and key systems (batteries, bilges, etc.) of the boat wherever she happens to be when I’m not aboard,” he said. “At times, I will have to leave the boat in remote locations thousands of miles from me, and it gives me peace of mind to know that she is safe and sound.”

He asked Phil Mitchell of Annapolisbased Electronics Marine to spec out the installation for him based on a brief of safety and security. In total, the hardware from Nautic Alert came to $7,300, including two Nevata bilge monitors, wireless smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, plus night-vision 4K cameras, IR and microwave intruder detection. “We chose to install wireless security sensors, which made the Nautic Alert portion of the system reasonably non-invasive,” Mitchell said. “Panels were removed to route cabling for the GPS and Iridium antennas for the system.”

In fact, the most time-consuming part of the installation was making the custom mounts for the sensors around the boat and the antennas on the stern. The final part of the system was the shoreside connection. An Iridium unit is there as a backup, but the owner wanted to have a long-range Wi-Fi and cellular antennas as a cheaper, higher bandwidth coastal option. They turned to WaveWifi for this, installing its Rogue Pro Wi-Fi antenna and its MBR-550 cellular antenna with Wi-Fi hotspot built in. This technology cost a further $2,400, but gives internet access up to seven miles from a Wi-Fi access point. All the subscriptions are managed by Nearshore Networks, so the owner only receives a single monthly comms bill.