MacGregorSailors.com

Alex Trebeck: Welcome back...The "Final Jeopardy" answer is "Kerplunk"

[Insert Final Jeopardy Theme Music Here]

Alex Trebeck: So Jim let's see how much you wagered...$599, an unusual amount, but did you get the correct question?

[Camera cut to Jim's display screen as his question is revealed]

"What is the sound made when you lift your Captain's Seat to close the ballast valve and your less than 1-year old Digital Video Camera falls off the aft end of the port cockpit seat, takes one bounce through the engine well and falls overboard?"

DOHHHH!!!!!

But I still had a good weekend of sailing. Temps were cold...around freezing when I woke up Sunday morning but that just makes that hot cup of coffee even better. Sailed and motored about 20 miles up to downtown DC and then sailed all the way back. Website has the details/pics/videos.

Other than losing my video camera it was a great weekend.

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König

Ugh - sorry to hear that, Jim...

I'll bet that last bit of footage was awesome though!

We will never know

Allan

Yeow. Sorry to hear that.

Similar fall with my digital still camera last year. Lesson: Don't put stuff close to the seat.
I marked it with the GPS and I vowed to return with a strong magnet to retrieve the SD card full of great pics.

Nice pics on your website...BTW, you are out of gas.




--Russ

RussMT wrote:I vowed to return with a strong magnet to retrieve the SD card full of great pics.

Hmm... strong magnet... sensitive electronic media... I wonder...

Oh well. Nevermind.

Perfect excuse for the cockpit locker mod...

Time for some deep soul searching !!!

yep done that a couple yrs back with a 260$ cell ph bet ya the chick is still talking to me on it !!!
To say I was at the time was an understatement

J
PS they have these things called neck straps I am always saying to myself I should buy one maybe I'll get off my butt now before I report the same findings that was a good catch for Davey Jone's Locker !

kmclemore wrote:

RussMT wrote:I vowed to return with a strong magnet to retrieve the SD card full of great pics.

Hmm... strong magnet... sensitive electronic media... I wonder...

Oh well. Nevermind.

Yea, could ruin it, but I have nothing to lose at this point. I'd be amazed to actually hook it. It was in 18' of water and I may wait until spring when the levels are down and search the new shoreline for it.

Sorry JIm, but your final jepardy answer is not the Lone Ranger. Nearly the same sound is heard when you are lowering the mainsail and a $400 pair of tinted trifocals go flying with a quick turn of the head and into the main Channel at MDR (something a two cent piece of string attached across the earpieces would have avoided). I ALMOST dove in after them (my first instinct) but then I remembered I was alone on the boat

A very similiar kerplunk type sound is heard (some are just louder than others) when tools, hardware and other electrical equipment decide to escape.

Not funny when it happens.

Rick

PS I sent my diver down once for a piece of equipent lost of my neighbor's Mac, but the Octopus must have got him!

RussMT wrote:Nice pics on your website...BTW, you are out of gas.




--Russ

Yeah, 35' of water where I dropped it. Definitely never finding it. And in hindsight I was not trying to empty the ballast I was attempting to reconnect the steering after sailing for an hour with it disconnected.

As for the gas. Gas and RPM go to zero when the key is off...I was sailing when this pic was taken as evidenced by the angled main sheet.

If this was the first STUPID thing I had ever done I would feel really bad...but after a while you just get used to it...

Cheers,
Jim
Sailing on König

After having a nice dinner on the boat in Friday Harbor marina, I was rinsing out a pan off the dock and my prescription sun glasses slipped out of my shirt pocket into the water and gently fluttered like a butterfly down to the depths. I really liked them and had the frames for several years.
I briefly thought about diving for them, but the water was about 35' deep and kinda cold.

These replaced the ones that fell into the Pirates of the Caribean ride at Disneyland.

You have to wonder about what else is down there.

my 2 week old blackberry

Hey Jim –

Sorry to hear about your camera.

No one made this suggestion so I will. Next time something goes overboard immediately hit the MOB (or equivalent) button on your GPS. It will save the location and give you the option in the future if you do want to return to that spot and go diving or have a friend who does. Plus, the water might even be shallow!

It’s a good thing to do anyway, because it’ll get you in the habit so that you will automatically do it without thinking if a REAL emergency comes up.

BTW – using a magnet to retrieve a magnetic storage device isn’t likely to erase the data if the card is still in the device because there is usually some shielding built around it. In the case of a camera or phone the sheet metal exterior itself will serve the purpose of a “Faraday cage” if there is nothing else internal. Note I said “isn’t likely”. It still IS possible.

Just like keeping your credit cards all facing the same way in your wallet. If you don’t, they CAN alter data, but it’s not “likely”.

Several times a day for years I’ve been using a leather case with a magnetic catch closure for my digital camera (which immediately and directly contacts the camera body in different locations), without a single glitch. Ever. I was very skeptical and cautious when I first started using it, but the stores sell piles of them, and if it were a problem they’d know about it. It’s because they’re shielded. A cheap, thin piece of sheet metal does it.

So now we all know what Santa will be bringing you this year?

- Brian.

seahouse wrote:BTW – using a magnet to retrieve a magnetic storage device isn’t likely to erase the data if the card is still in the device because there is usually some shielding built around it. In the case of a camera or phone the sheet metal exterior itself will serve the purpose of a “Faraday cage” if there is nothing else internal. Note I said “isn’t likely”. It still IS possible.

Just like keeping your credit cards all facing the same way in your wallet. If you don’t, they CAN alter data, but it’s not “likely”.

Several times a day for years I’ve been using a leather case with a magnetic catch closure for my digital camera (which immediately and directly contacts the camera body in different locations), without a single glitch. Ever. I was very skeptical and cautious when I first started using it, but the stores sell piles of them, and if it were a problem they’d know about it. It’s because they’re shielded. A cheap, thin piece of sheet metal does it.

SD cards are transistor based not magnetic media and therefore not subject to erasure by magnets.

Now sea water inside your camera lens can't be a good thing.

--Russ

I know the distinct sound of a cell phone hitting the water...during my awesome JUMP from the Mac X onto the my Marina-Slip-Pier-- sorta resembles between a kerplunk & plup'...similar to a casting of a baited hook with a light weight...'splush'
It's still down there...below my boat...resting nicely. Slip depth is 5' to 7' depending on tides...but I feel that the phone is "toast" so it deserves to rest in peace...SIGH. Purchased a better one already..great loud ringing sounds too.

A few weeks back, when my Leatherman Stainless Tool slipped overboard within the slip...I retrieved it during low tide with a LONG dip net.

It doesnt take too long getting educated to keep stuff OUT of an open shirt pocket when messin' around on the Mac...if you know what I mean !