GoPro reef navigation

[cabo_sailor]

Every once in a while two gray cells come sufficiently close and I have a thought 😜

We are all familiar with having someone in the spreaders to watch for coral.

What about hoisting a GoPro camera or one of its competitors to the spreaders. Weighs a lot less than I do and if WiFi capable I should be able to display the image on my Garmin MFD.

I must be missing something, seems too easy.

Rich


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[Gary H]

Great idea. I would add a polarizing filter to the camera for a better view below the water's surface.

[Pelagic]

As much as we kid ourselves about technology replacing human lookouts..... The reality is that in close quarter situations where you need intelligent counsel to guide you to a safe path around coral heads.....there is no substitute for a lookout up the mast, who can assess waters both near and far

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by Pelagic

As much as we kid ourselves about technology replacing human lookouts..... The reality is that in close quarter situations where you need intelligent counsel to guide you to a safe path around coral heads.....there is no substitute for a lookout up the mast, who can assess waters both near and far

No disagreement but we don't always have access to people who can read the water.


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[Time2Go]

When WiFi is enabled on the GoPro
battery life falls off dramatically, to maybe 20-25 minutes on a fully
charged battery. I have mounted my GoPro on the rail, backstay,
Lifeline stanchions and use the wifi to my cell phone to see what the camera is seeing and then turn wifi off (on the camera body)
If you turn the camera on and off via the wifi
the wifi is still on and chewing through your battery
Cheers

[svGenesis]

I rigged a boogie board to tow behind me with my gopro mounted underneath (gives a great view) "boogiecam" Just rig a pole out on the bow underwater, yes it goes through a battery pretty quick but i have several batteries,

[cabo_sailor]

Can one rig a 12 v line to one to keep it charged?


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[barnakiel]

Not enough light collected by GoPro.

Can be done BUT you want quality wide aperture lens and good sensor. Consider some form of stabilisation too (either the lens or the sensor).

b.

[minaret]

Did a lengthy description of my installation on my refit thread about two years ago. It's awesome, with pan & scan, an electromagnetic mast fitting, and wireless Bluetooth parking cams on either side of the hull. This means when parking the helmsman can have a three way split screen with views from the masthead looking down, and from either side deck looking forward. All drone tech and car stuff that's dirt cheap, few hundred in parts except for the Go Pro. Works great! For tricky parking, anyway.

[s/v Beth]

Perhaps I am being stupid, but why mount on the mast? How about the bowspirit, or even in clear water under the water at the bow? Or along the stantions if you want to see how close the dock is?

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Perhaps I am being stupid, but why mount on the mast? How about the bowspirit, or even in clear water under the water at the bow? Or along the stantions if you want to see how close the dock is?

Thought of that but decided that close to the water didn't give me time to react.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Perhaps I am being stupid, but why mount on the mast? How about the bowspirit, or even in clear water under the water at the bow? Or along the stantions if you want to see how close the dock is?

Better view angle from the top. That's to say if looking for things under the surface.

Like sending a person to the crosstrees.

b.

[Ribbit]

I thought of something similar a few days ago (given I will be single handing).

But rather than a GoPro, I thought about a Lowrance Elite 3X Fishfinder instead. Can put mounting brackets on the Pulpit and have it on the end of an alloy pole (cheap) facing forward under the water at about a 45 degree angle.

I like the Lowrance Elite 3X Fishfinder because it has a 20ft lead, and you can get a 15ft extension (which is then easy to make even longer if necessary).

Easy to demount and then use wherever I like (even on the dinghy).

It's pretty cheap too (I've seen it retailing for $94 US).

Should be ok with a slow and steady approach? I think up to 800ft effective range might well be enough to be advantageous, plus it isn't so vulnerable to murky water.

PS. Would one with CHIRP offer any significant advantages? The cheapest CHIRP ones aren't that much more expensive.

PPS. 'Might' be handy with any issues with the anchor too (which perhaps says 'go for a CHIRP model').

[WolfgangSeaLife]

you might consider a SeaLife Micro Camera. It has 3 hour battery duration and is permanently sealed for life.