I lashed out yesterday and bought a new gadget for the boat!

Called a Ezitrak boat bandit, it is a security alarm / tracking GPS - GSM tracking device, that I distribute if anyones interested in one for their boat!

Basically it's installed in your boat and alerts you if anyone breaks into it, steals it etc, by sending you a mobile phone voice call and SMS message!

It works back the other way too, where - using your phone, you can "track" - the boat wherever it goes by water or land....and you can even remotely disable the engines, turn on the horn / sirens, lights whatever you want to wire it up to!

It even comes with a bilge float switch alarm so if you leave your boat in the water for any period of time - and rain gets into the bilge (or a leak develops) you get a sms message or voice call - and you can manually activate your bilge pump by mobile phone to pump it out!

Lots of different stuff it can do..

I will report on it more fully when I have it installed and have fully trialled it!

You can, if you have a laptop, feed the tracking location data (lats and longs) to your laptop - and have your C map chart chip (and /or road maps if it's a trailerable boat) loaded onto your PC, so that you in effect have a chartplotter tracking real time the movement of your boat!

Then just get yourself in place to intercept the boat and remotely disable it using your mobile phone!!

If you don't have a laptop - but have a internet enabled mobile phone,you can log into boat bandits site with your phone and it will display a moving map, behind your gps waypint data on your phone screen so you can track your boat with your phone!

If boaters are sick of losing boats or gear from boats - then these types of devices will make a LOT of difference, in terms of getting your property back.

Compare to what we already spend on boat electronics they are not THAT expensive!

I understand (from the company who supply me with these units) that they have a prototype now in testing (after 3 years development) of a similar "personal tracker device", that is miniaturised, with NicCad batteries etc and gets placed inside high value personal equipment..

It lays dormant as long as the unit does not move..using virtually no battery power, for years at a time if necessary..

But - move the item outside it's pre programmed perimiter cordon, (like somepne nicks ya telly and takes it outside the house to drive away with it), and this thing "knows" (detects a movement in it's position) and sends a mobile phone message and tracks itself, till you come get it and turn it off!

This stuff will live inside hire cars, hire boats etc etc, some of the boat, car, and bike bandits, units are already inside hire cars for example!

A recent example(they record a entire track log) is a dude hired a 4wd in Perth from a hire co.

Claimed he didn't need offroad insurance, as he was just showing guests from overseas around Kings park etc..and said he'd do less than the 200 free kilometers in the few days he had vehicle.

Anyway - he gets round the corner from the hire place and first thing disconnects the speedo cable. Then he did some 2000 kilometers, down the southwest - thru the Warren R National Parks - across the mouth of the Warren R at Yeagarup beach - you name it - he went there!

He drops the car back 3 days later but before he gets there - they downloaded the entire track log and debited his credit card with all the excess kilometers - the compulsory off road insurance etc etc!

His bill was over $2 grand!

He was expecting a $few hundred...

Claimed he did less than 200 km's etc etc

Then they turned the computer screen round and showed him where he'd been - where he stopped overnight etc etc...the whole 9 yards, trip details!

So - big brother is everywhere people, hidden camera's, tracking devices, you name it, immobilisers, they have it!

Be interesting to see how this unit goes - could take a while to get it installed tho - a lot of wires to run in such a way that they aren't visible or easily accessed!

Hire boat co's are looking at putting them inside hire boats - to shut down engines when clients take them outside their 3 or 5 mile survey limits!

Couple guys in Mandurah copped $300 fine from Transport / Fisheries, when caught 20 miles out fishing for dhui's in a hire boat with a 3 Nmile survey in recent weeks!

Transport are threatening to fine the boat hire co's if they don't stop clients exceeding survey limits...so they are looking at remote tracking/ disable technology for their boats!

Interesting times we live in!!

Will report more when I've had a play with it!

Cheers!