090828 - Camera Ruined - Helping Hands

'It went in the water and got destroyed - that's what happened to it!'

As most of you would already know - I had an unfortunate mishap the other day - while going ashore - and the camera which was carelessly dangling around my neck took a momentary dunking. But that's all it takes for an electronic circuited, battery loaded, digital camera to be completely frizzled and killed. One second in saltwater - a silent zzzzzzztttttt - and it's all over.

But for the benefit of our 'worldwide audience' of anonymous visitors - HA! - here is a re-print of the sorry tale I sent out (initially in an email to friend Bill) - just to bring you up to date.

I'm sorry to report - that following the unfortunate stumble in the soft mud

while coming ashore at your place yesterday to meet Rose & Ron

and the Sony camera around my neck taking a sudden salt water dunking

(and despite our best efforts at rinsing it and blow-drying it straight away)

the camera is completely D E A D.

The photo of Penny at the top, was taken with the cheap $78 Kodak we've got aboard

(and although you are going to say it's quite good - it took a lot of work to get it so).

I'm very sorry to see the other one destroyed like that - for although it's just a camera

it has recorded every scene and event of our lives these past 3 amazing years,

from every celebration, and accident, to every person we have met along the way

and every beautiful view and magical panorama we have seen and lived through.

And it has recorded it all faithfully and clearly.

Here is the last picture from the camera taken the other evening.

After I had motored over to tell MG I was getting the computer magazines for him

I swung by Bruno's yacht on the way home - just to take some sunset silhouette shots.

It was photograph number exactly - 23,600 - taken with the camera.

We won't be rushing out to buy a new one just yet (and who can afford that anyway)

and we'll just wait and see what presents itself - and have a good look at what's arouund.

But - as taking good quality photos and sending them out to all our friends

is important to us - and a big part of our day to day lives

we will have to get a camera that can produce at least the same true to life images

that we are used to seeing - and that people have come to expect.

So I can't see much change out of $500 there.

Anyway - we'll do our best with what we've got right now

and with all our skills - learned from years of 'playing with pictures'

I'm sure we can produce - some passable photos.

But still I'm very annoyed with myself at what happened

and not having the camera in a sealed bag - as I usually do - when going ashore

but then as someone said 'that's why it's called an accident' - HA!

So that was the tale from the other day - and I have to say in retrospect and with the benefit of 'slow-motion mental re-enactment' - I have come to the conclusion that if I had shown any sense at all - I should have DROPPED Penny (to swim the few feet to sand - after all she IS thedogpaddler) and SAVED THE CAMERA (which can't dogpaddle at all). You don't need to worry, Penny would have been up on that sand you see in the photo and shaking herself off - in about 10 seconds.

Well that's what happened to the camera - - but of course the story doesn't end there.

Ever since it happened, neighbour Keith (of 'Parrot on the Shoulder' Keith from the previous newsletter) - has been insisting that HE CAN REPAIR IT. And I have to say that as each day has passed - some small glimmer of life has flickered from the camera - a little more from each day left recovering in the sun. But still even though it was making a few noises and the lens actually opened a couple of times - pressing any other buttons had no effect - and the screen remained an uninspiring grey cloud.

I had already resisted Machine Gun's offer to take it to a 'Vietnamese TV repairman' he knew - and I was reluctant to concede that Keith knew very much about the complex computer circuitry when he doesn't have a camera - or know how to turn one on. But nevertheless he was all 'gung ho' - let me have a go - with a very positive - 'some soldering and WD40, and I'll have it fixed'.

A little later in the day