I run the boat 90%+ on autopilot and I fish alone fairly often. I admit I am addicted to it and really don't enjoy running the boat for long periods of time. I know how to run a boat been doing it my entire life but it becomes monotonous and I would rather be fishing than driving. I have even been known not to go out because the AP pump was bad and I didn't leave until it was replaced. That said, I normally do not go too far offshore alone <15 miles but I do go alone.
My worry was I fall overboard while fishing while under AP and watch the boat keep driving away as I tread water
.
Well, I last year I got a wireless kill switch that was sort of made for outboards but was able to configure it for my diesel with the help of the auto-tether folks thru a universal kill switch wired to the injector pump shut off solenoid. I never installed it, it sat in a box all last year. I looked at it this year and said.." I better install this, or they will find me dead and my boat 400mi away and this kill switch in the box on board. It actually was not that hard but it took some experimenting with a volt meter to figure out what wire goes to what. The directions that come with it are for outboards. Anyway I tested it out and it works great. If the fob goes in the water or the distance exceeds some length the engine stops and alarms go off. It will handle up to 4 fobs (only the capt's shut the engine off the passenger fobs sound an alarm that someone went OB)
Threaded Mode