$250/yr to use a $1500 piece of gear means if you use it on your boat for say 6 years that's $3000 plus whatever the connectivity costs you. For me I'm not a huge fan of paying monthly for use of a system I already paid good money for and I have a tendency to circumvent these types of charges when applied. Back in the day I hacked my DVD NAV system in my car because they wanted $180 per update which is BS. Hacked sat TV and radio too just for giggles. I'm an engineer and these are the types of things I typically make for myself anyway. Hardware on something like this if you want wifi/bluetooth/gsm would be around $70 all in with some easy programming... maybe I'll start a business making these and sell them at a flat rate as there's no need for maintenance charges since there's no need for me to host servers for it or anything. Just give it a sim card and pay for basic cell service, use bluetooth or wifi when using it locally. Hmmm... something to think about.

I have been using Siren Marine for 7+ years to monitor bilge pump activity, high water, battery voltage, companion way open/close sensor, and cabin temperature. I find it very reassuring to know that the batteries are ok and there is no water intrusion or unauthorized entry. The GeoFence feature is also very nice to have. I installed it myself - no dealer required. Well worth the money for the peace of mind especially when I traveling away from our sailboat.

Another very stimulating video...I was a computer technician and I like to balance the technology with the empirical . The way you analyze marketing implications, applications and cost of useage is wise and skillfully comprehensive . Great information. Thank, Tim

I agree with previous comments. The monthly fee, is a no for me. Keep up the good work!

I’m more interested in using a Raspberry Pi to do the same thing and since my I have a 1979 Cat27 I’d like to understand how to leverage my old depth sounder and other instruments with something like OpenCPN.

I’m pretty sure the Victron Cerbo GX can do a lot of the same thing, it has data ports for sensors to be connected and geo fencing. No subscription fees

There is a whole tutorial in Spanish in another channel, The Low Cost Sailor, explaining hoy to make this with a raspberry pi. Special for DIYers...

Also seems like something to greater ones complacency and due diligence. If you have disposable income and are far way from you boat anchored in an exotic location, bang! Awesome

For my boat I use Nautic Alert Triton, which provides auto-switching for cellular and satellite communication in one box and connects via wireless to Nautic Alert Nevata for bilge management, which uses sound waves to measure the water level, controls multiple bilge pumps (primary and secondary) and keeps you notified if the water level in the bilge increases more than an inch. In many cases, when a high water level float switch is activated there is already a lot of water in the bilge and on its way to sinking.

I have Simplisafe on my boat for onsite alarm and remote monitoring. Starter systems are under $200. Bilge sensors are $20 each. I use temp sensors to alert for custom high and low temp settings. Also have CO and smoke alarms in each cabin. There is no charge for remote monitoring to your phone. Monthly fee around $30 if you want Simplisafe pro monitoring that will call local police and fire. Not NMEA 2000 but an extremely good value.

The ability to know if something is going wrong, or by far better yet: To be able to take a quick glance and *know* that everything is just fine, no problems, would be a great source of peace of mind when you're away from your boat. Kind of like those doorbell cameras. But, Tim, I hear what you're saying... Do I really need all those sensors? Would the product be more reasonably priced if it were less involved, (also less to go wrong)? MOST OF ALL: There's a LOT of good comments below aimed at the Do-It-Yourselfer. Tim, that is why I love your videos: You start great conversations that attract experienced people that are happy to pass on what they know! :)

Nice concept in an ever evolving technological world, however like you said simplicity and ease of use without proprietary parts/software is important. Like many other DIYers here I am more interested in a semi-custom/open sourced soultion utilizing RasPi and Open CPN. A much more appealing solution would be to have integrated smart relays using somthing like SHELLY devices that would also allow for not only remote monitoring but also CONTROL of all your systems from afar. At the end of the day, it's all about self sufficiency and this product seems like it just creates more dependancy and is probably not very DIY user friendly, customizable or most importantly user serviceable when things inevitable need repair or maintanence. Thanks again for all the hard work and great content!

Nice to have but I can't justify ~$21/month to monitor my bilge. I can't think of anything else that could help justify such a cost. Just make sure your bilge system is working properly. Mine is hardwired to be always on. I visit the boat once a month at which time I operate and check all the below waterline hardware. I just don't think remote monitoring can replace this.

It's too much money. Pay, pay, then pay again. Subscription models are geat for the manufacturer, not so much the consumer. As others have said, there are other cheaper non-subscription ways to achieve this.

Nice video, thank you. But, this is just another subscription product that is very, very hard to justify. I understand the need of the entrepreneurs to make money and to continue milking their products' use for a revenue stream. However, in this day and age, when you can fashion some low-power single board computer to control various input signals from your boat's various potential points of failure and transmit a few data packets over mobile networks (through another low-power GSM modem) every now and then at normal state of things and send an immediate alert at the first sign of potentially real trouble, an annual charge of hundreds of Dollars cannot be justified. This product is aimed primarily at promising peace of mind to less-than-handy boat owners at an unjustifiably high subscription charge. If you can put together a working home PC, you can replicate the functions of this product at a fraction of its (one-time) cost. If you cannot, then boating will become very expensive quite quickly for you.

One step further, when it comes to security, a digital camera could take a photo of ‘intruders’ and send the picture to your phone. The GPS could track your boat wherever should it get stolen and send you the info. A shock sensor could also tell you that something has hit your boat. Fire, heat and smoke sensor could also be installed. Water sensor around your windows could tell you a window is open and the rain is getting inside. Once everything is digitised, it can tell you everything. I like it. I’m sure prices will come down when the competition starts. I know a few guys who love their Raspberry Pi’s and could do this already. In IT, we have many of these sensors monitoring server rooms already.

Sounds interesting but I would not use it. I like to keep things simple.

Great idea, but seems very expensive. I have some experience with these kinds of systems for cars using CANBUS and the cost listed in the video is more than 10x the equivalent for a land vehicle, both for the device itself and for the monthly monitoring. That said, boats can cost a lot more than cars and cars don't sink if a critical system fails to work.

I use a cellular deer camera has time lapse have it set so I get a Pic every 6 hours

Insurance would need to go down to round out the value proposition versus opportunity costs for me. And I come from a family with a history of boats sinking at their moorings

I don't have an NEMA integrated systems and have no plans to install them. However, when instrument upgrade time arrives I will install the latest technology. Buying a subscription for a monitoring system still is not on the list. Cruising mostly on Chesapeake Bay, I have an old boat and the primary budget is for maintaining critical boat systems, often with knowledge gained from PS. As others have commented, more simple monitoring systems can be built. No new Beneteau's for me.

Only slightly related. Bilge pumps have the problem of how to turn them on. Float switches are kind of high and can get gunked up. Built in timers cycle the pump frequently and can be hard on batteries. Expensive when the pump fails. I had a consistent 1 gpd leak on a 26ft with 50W solar. I installed basic cheap pump at bottom of bilge and wired it through a tiny $23 12V timer. Set it to 10 secs every 15 minutes. Tested flow and amps with a bucket, step ladder and hose in my driveway. That was ~4gph to chase 1gpd and less than 2 ah/day. My solar does 12 ah/day to 100ah battery. If you don't trust the timer and have room, install a float in parallel. Hopefully it never gets wet :-) Edit: 10 Amp Mini Timer Delay Relay. $40 with programmer.

What a great idea.

Thank you

Best deal ever for monitoring your boat. Be out there using it not leaving it to rot in a marina.

Actual HW cost is just a simple controller to read and decode NEMA data and a simple GSM modem to send it out. I would say $35 the max, including a waterproof case and connectors. All the rest is an added cost of software development.

Power consumption will increase because you will need to leave your boat NMEA systems running. What will be required to be powered up for this monitor to work. Will we need to leave our plotters and instruments switched on? Not a good idea if this is required. Large power consumption and ware and tare on instruments, reducing usable display life etc…

hahaha damn you. I was literally playing World of Warcraft while watching this video🤣

My first question is regarding this being hacked!?

Why pay when you can do it yourself. Honestly? That data is small and with a rpi. I could build an easy DIY self contained system very easily. Nmea is open source also. So again. Why pay? That 1500 device was a $5 esp32 and $10 in small parts. Also it doesn't take an entire dev team to build that system. 1 man could do it. I know. I built a voice activated automated home with pool and hot tub Intergrated. With programmable lights throughout the property with solar heater that would sense the water temp and run at night to cool the pool down

Keep it simple and dont jump on the fear wagon!

More data doesn’t make you more knowledgeable, it makes you more paranoid. I love data. I also refuse tech that requires a subscription. The cost of peace of mind is overrated. Murphys law dictates that things go wrong under the least ideal conditions. Maintenance logs should be easy. Most things come up every year so just get used to a routine. Maybe on a multimillion dollar boat this type of tech is important, but they can also afford to hire a ships engineer. I’d say skip it and spend the money on something more practical.

Always something for a buck! I call it lazy sailor . What happen to just simple living and enjoying one’s self. Always a sails pitch

Ha ha because “BENETEAU” has implemented it is RELIABLE ??? I don’t even consider Beneteau boats reliable never mind a high tech monitor that relies on the reliability of all the systems on the boat it is monitoring to even work. It monitors the battery but battery failure and it fails I assume it has a cellular internet connection or connects to your boats WiFi like starlink internet to make this data available away from the boat. Again not exactly reliable no connection no monitoring. And then what about all legacy devices that down connect to NEMA network. It’s another expensive toy for rich people who buy expensive NEW yachts. And BENETEAU includes it as it’s another feature to sell new boats but is really a placebo for piece of mind that it’s safer to have a boat with this then simply have a very simple boat and rely on seamen like systems that are redundant and truly reliable