IT specialist Al Grant is such a keen boatie that he prefers to work from his boat as much as possible, rather than from his office or home.
That means ensuring he can stay in touch with his clients and is always connected to the digital world, even when cruising in remote areas. With a relatively young family, he also needs a system that can handle multiple internet connections at the same time and, being in a shared boat situation, he needs one that is both foolproof and easy to operate.
After trying various systems, including a non-marinised router (and becoming frustrated with its unsuitability and lack of integration), he discovered Raymarine’s Yachtsense Link, a system designed, built and vibration-tested for the marine environment, delivering a robust power supply with minimum electronic noise and waterproofed to IP67.
“Yachtsense Link does everything I need it to do,” he says enthusiastically, “it provides a seamless, integrated marine solution for everything my family and I need.”
He says Yachtsense Link’s powerful modem looks after all his data communications, satisfies his family’s needs for strong, reliable internet connections (for their smart TV and all their individual phones and tablets) and dramatically improves their network coverage (“on average, from three bars to five”). Yachtsense Link also integrates with the boat’s two Axiom MFDs and its charging system.
“That means the system is always live and there is no need for anyone to use their phone to ‘hotspot’ a computer or other device (and drain the phone’s battery).”
The system automatically pairs with any previously connected device as soon as you step on board. When the vessel approaches a marina, the system can be set to automatically connect with the marina’s WiFi (and just as seamlessly switch back when leaving), instead of using 3 or 4G cellphone data.
Al says the Yachtsense Link has numerous other advantages, too.
“Like many modern boat owners, I have a pretty sophisticated and valuable battery bank. Yachtsense Link helps me monitor and protect the batteries, allowing me to check in at any time, as well as automatically sending regular status reports to the cloud. That means, if there was an issue and I needed to make a warranty claim, I could use that logged data to prove the batteries were being used as intended and not being abused.”
Al says he can, when not on board, also use Yachtsense Link’s included-out-of-the-box digital switching and Raymarine’s Ray app, to check in and control up to four circuits remotely.
“I can monitor the boat’s CCTV cameras, check engine data if someone else is using the boat and use the system’s Geofencing capability to check the boat hasn’t drifted while we are on shore. If we are coming back to the boat at night from on shore or from another boat, I can remotely turn on the underwater lights (to make it easy to locate our boat in a crowded anchorage) and turn on our deck and cockpit lights to help us board.”
Al says that, while his initial need was for a powerful, reliable internet connection to enable him to work on board and spend more time on the water, the recreational advantages have quickly become of equal importance.
“Like many boating families these days, a big part of how we relax on board involves consuming data. We have two kids and there are times when they are both watching separate Netflix shows at the same time, while I’m catching up on the news using TVNZ On Demand.
“Yachtsense Link enables us to do all that, stay in touch with friends and family, and it allows me to spend more time working in a beautiful anchorage rather than being stuck in the office.”
While Yachtsense Link integrates extremely well with Raymarine MFD systems, it is equally effective as a stand-alone system, able to be used on any vessel and delivering enhanced communications, monitoring and digital switching.
Yachtsense Link has also won international acclaim, winning a prestigious DAME award at the 2022 METSTRADE exhibition in Amsterdam.
Yachtsense Link is relatively inexpensive, is very easy to install on a DIY basis, and is available nationwide through Lusty & Blundell’s network of leading marine dealers.
For more information visit www.lusty-blundell.co.nz
