"YOUR BOAT IS SINKING" SMS FROM IPHONE CONTROLLED BY ARDUINO

I have an idea and i'm wondering if it is feasible. I am brand new to arduino and have essentially no experience coding, but If this is possible I am willing to learn. Please help

I have an old antique wooden motor boat from 1960. It went in the water last year for the first time in 40 years. Finding and sealing all of the leaks is an ongoing process. Last year I had to trailer it to the lake every time I took it out (bad for the boat). This year I want to put the boat on the lake and leave it docked, problem is I dont trust it to stay afloat (bilge pumps fail too often).

I would like to equip the boat with a float switch (maybe two for backup) that will signal if water has raised above acceptable levels. Arduino would interpret these signals as cues to tell an old iphone (3GS which has been jailbroken and equipped with a prepaid sim card for texting) to send an sms to my cell phone. I can then rush to the lake and bail out my boat before it is too late.

if i wanted to get really crazy it would be nice if the iphone could snap a picture of the water level and send the mms to me for visual confirmation of the problem when I am far away. Also if I could wire in the automatic bilge pumps so that arduino could text me a daily report of the number of times that each bilge pump runs each day.

Other notable details:

No wifi or other internet network is available

There is power in the form of a 12 volt deep cycle marine battery that is used to start the engine and power onboard accessories, this is maintained daily by a small solar array on the boat

I cannot have a computer or laptop running aboard the boat (this would consume too much power)

IS THIS POSSIBLE????????????????????

Easy to do. I would keep the GSM powered off to save power. Your load would just be the Arduino monitoring the switch. Once activated, power up the GSM, wait 20 seconds for it to get on the network, then send a SMS message to your phone.

Spend the money on a reliable Bilge Pump.

And do what arcs-n-sparcs suggests as a backup.

An Iphone 3gs is massive overkill for the job and will make your life more difficult. Sell if for a couple of hundred dollars on ebay and buy a cellular shield or an old phone with a serial interface.

An Iphone 3gs is massive overkill for the job

...and the battery life isn't great.

look at this

http://techome.com.au/process/shop/productView.html?itemId=11128

Another case of using technology for the sake of it, rather than curing the original problem.
Better to spend some money on recaulking the boat to keep the water out which will make it safe and reliable. There is never an adequate excuse for tolerating a leaky boat.
Then as suggested buy a reliable self monitoring bilge pump.
Once the boat has properly wetted the planks will swell and become tighter than they will be if they've been allowed to dry out.

Setup a small Solar panel-windmill combination. This will be as cheap as you want i.e. either go to DIY way or get expensive by shopping...but definitly this backup power will help your boat unsinkable.. :wink:

I'd skip the Rube Goldburg solutions and just make some water wings for the boat to keep it from sinking. Styrofoam blocks or even floats made from a lot of 2 liter plastic drink bottles would be more reliable for keeping the boat afloat.

why not to keep the boat on another boat? :grin: