When I was a kid, my family lived about 45 minutes away from our boat on the East Coast. While this wasn’t a big deal—the constant traffic snarls on I-95 aside—we always had to be diligent about ensuring that all switches were off before we disembarked because few things are a bigger killjoy on a much-anticipated cruising day than arriving aboard to discover flat batteries. Fortunately, our attention to detail kept us sailing sans issues, but, given that this was decades ago, the only “connectivity” happening involved the bridles that kept our boat attached to its mooring.
Flash-forward 35-plus years, and even my dog carries an Apple AirTag on his collar. Connectivity is here, and boaters can reap dividends that have the capability to truly enhance their experiences on the water.
While connected-boat technology has existed for more than a decade, today’s systems are more advanced than their predecessors, giving owners the ability to monitor, track and control their vessel from afar using a blend of communication protocols. Also, unlike earlier-generation solutions, today’s connected-boat systems often leverage digital-switching technologies and satellite communications, and many offer users a customized app experience.
If you own a Nest thermostat, a Ring doorbell or a home security system, you’re familiar with the concept of connected technology. It typically consists of hardware, software, and some form of internet connectivity that’s tasked with providing information such as sensor status or video footage, or allowing you to remotely operate systems—for example, adjusting the temperature in your home via an app on your smartphone.
Connected boats employ similar architecture and thinking: A sensor network (or networks) is connected to a processor with a SIM card that reports to a cloud server, which, in turn, reports issues to an app. Like at-home systems, owners can tap the app to remotely check on their vessel.
Most connected-boat solutions allow owners to select a sensor package that best fits their needs. For example, owners can select sensors that detect and alert for things such as high water, low voltage, loss of shore power, unexpected entry, and—given that boats are mobile machines—breached GPS-/GNSS-guarded geofences. “This provides peace of mind when you’re not on the boat,” says Andrew Cullen, director of marine connectivity at Yamaha (in 2022, Yamaha acquired Siren Marine, which has long built connected-boat systems).
Also, system depending, these networks can include systems and instrumentation on the vessel’s NMEA 2000 data backbone(s).
Aside from deterring vessel theft and avoiding catastrophe, connected-boat technology is also about removing worries. “We want to make boating easier, and to make it a better experience,” Cullen says. “A big benefit of connected-boat technology involves helping owners use their time on the water for its intended purpose, and helping to ensure that there’s nothing wrong with the boat when they arrive.”
Say, ensuring that their battery levels are up and ready to start the engines. But that’s just scratching the surface.
New boats increasingly feature digital-switching systems, which replace analog fuses, circuit breakers, and switches with electronic transistors. While this allows owners to, for example, control their networked N2K systems and devices from a multifunction display when they’re on board, it also enable control of these systems and devices from afar.
“Connected-boat technology is generally more of a premium system,” says Kevin Steinbraker, Navico Group’s vice president and general manager of digital systems. (Brunswick owns Mercury and Navico Group, including B&G, Simrad, Lowrance, CZone and C-Map.) Steinbraker explains that this is because connected-boat technology is greatly enhanced aboard yachts that also carry digital-switching systems.
But once digital switching is involved, owners can arrive to find, for example, that their refrigeration and HVAC are running, their courtesy lights are illuminated, and their instrumentation is ready to go. Owners can also use connected technology to enable wireless entry if, say, a technician needs to perform some work.
Connected-boat systems can often monitor the health and performance of networked engines and motors as well.
Better still, Navico Group has been working to create a seamless trip-planning experience for owners. “There’s a lot of advance planning, checking cartography, planning routes and stops, and looking at previous trips,” Steinbraker says, adding that Navico Group-built technology allows owners to wirelessly briefcase routes and waypoints that they create at home to their Navico Group-built MFD(s) once they step aboard their vessel, using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity.
Cartography, software and systems updates are another big advantage that today’s connected-boat technology can deliver. Updates can be pushed to an owner’s mobile device and—much like remote route planning—briefcased to the vessel, or it can sometimes be sent to the boat via the cloud.
While the existing benefits of connected-boat technology are enticing—especially for owners with digital-switching systems—both Cullen and Steinbraker point to even better over-the-horizon possibilities. “AI is the future,” Cullen says, adding that Yamaha plans to utilize network data in the next several years. “Its ability to analyze and process data will be advantageous,” he continues. “We have equipment on tens of thousands of boats, accessing all data points, so there’s a lot to analyze.”
In time, AI should enable advanced-level predictive maintenance, rather than the current service reminders.
“It’s the art of the possible because you have access to information, and AI can be trained to provide solutions,” Steinbraker says, noting that he thinks that—in time—connected-boat technology will become more mainstream. “As it evolves, and as data becomes more available, we’ll find ways to make boating a better experience.”
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Given that connected-boat systems are relatively affordable, this technology offers some major reassurance, and can also deliver insurance-related benefits.
While our family’s sailboats lacked the digital-switching systems that would have enabled us to chill the refrigerator before we arrived with groceries for Downeast cruises, or to kill any systems that we might have accidentally left activated, there’s no question that we would have made great use of the ability to check battery, water and tank levels, sans a lengthy I-95 drive. And that’s to say nothing about easing software updates, monitoring engine hours or, in time, utilizing AI to dig deep into our onboard data and warn us of any coming headaches—such as the time an aging engine seal failed and filled the bilge with oil.
