Camera Recovery in Muck

[Seaduced]

My nephew and some of his friends were filming wake boarding on a lake. The video camera was dropped, but it was in a waterproof enclosure on a 4' pole . Luckily they were on a skiing course, with buoys, so the location is marked fairly well. We are going to try a recovery, the viz is about 1 foot, depth 18', water temp is about 85 degrees and the bottom in about a foot of silty muck. We plan to use an anchor and rope to make expanding circles and grope with our hands for the camera. Since it is a recreational boating area, I'm concerned about broken glass, fishing gear, and boats.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there a better method? Has anyone made a probe, so we don't have to actually use our hands to rake the bottom, like maybe a plastic leaf rake with the handle cut down?

I'm also going to try a fish finder as a side scan sonar. I've read a couple of articles about folks turning finders into side scan tow fish. Who knows?

And yeah, we mentioned a tether would have been a great idea...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Not advocating the use of your hands but IF you must do it that way get some cut proof gloves. Not neoprene scuba gloves. You can find cut proof, kevlar reinforced gloves at home depot, Lowe's, or any industrial safety supply store. If boat traffic is nil you cna greatly inprove your chances by not messing the vis up yourselves. Use good lights and a piece of stainless steel or other metal rod and gently probe while doing your sweeps staying 2 feet or so off the bottom. you may be able to spot it or get lucky and tap it. Trying to sift or search with your hands is going to turn poor vis to zero in seconds.

Keep the rope tied to the anchor off the bottom say 4 feet min. And search as buddy teams side by side. You'll have two sets of eyes vs one and be able to cover more area. As well as be safer should anyone encounter a problem.

 

[g1138]

You can try using those kiddy toy plastic rakes as your probe. Either a gardening set or a beach set.
The latter will usually be a bit smaller and have thinner legs.

I think Toy's R US, Target, or Big 5 will have them.

Jim's right though, raking will cause the viz to become absolute 0 and will probably block out your gauges.
If you're lucky, the camera will be a different density from the pole and it might have just speared the muck. If that's the case you'll probably snag it with your line during your circle search, rather than actually finding it with your hands.

 

[DandyDon]

And yeah, we mentioned a tether would have been a great idea...

And Sealife sells a red float strap.

 

[Seaduced]

Thanks Guys! The kiddy rakes are good idea. I plan to make sweeps before we rake the area, because the viz will be bad as it gets after that. We are hoping the either the camera or pole was heavy enough to make it stand up in the mud.

 

[Onewolf]

Beware the killer amoebas! :shocked2:

 

[charlesml3]

kevlar reinforced gloves at home depot, Lowe's, or any industrial safety supply store.

Wow, leave it to Scubaboard to make the problem about 100 times more difficult than it is. I live on a lake and we routinely fish sunglasses off the bottom. Vis is maybe a foot. If it's less than 12 feet of water or so, we just use a mask. No fins, no gloves. Just go down where you think they are and look. If you're in the right area you can just see them on the bottom.

I once had to fish some prescription glasses off the bottom in about 16 feet of water so I got a tank and reg for that. Just don't screw your vis! Keep off the bottom. You don't need any tools or probes or rakes. The PVC pipe on that camera will be easy to find. Especially since you know almost exactly where it is.

-Charles

 

[Seaduced]

Well, due to a medical "event," we didn't get to do the dive. We will try again week after next.

Beware the killer amoebas! :shocked2:

I thought of that, are there any precautions we can take? I was going to use fresh water to rinse the head/face area after surfacing.

Wow, leave it to Scubaboard to make the problem about 100 times more difficult than it is. I live on a lake and we routinely fish sunglasses off the bottom. Vis is maybe a foot. If it's less than 12 feet of water or so, we just use a mask. No fins, no gloves. Just go down where you think they are and look. If you're in the right area you can just see them on the bottom.

I once had to fish some prescription glasses off the bottom in about 16 feet of water so I got a tank and reg for that. Just don't screw your vis! Keep off the bottom. You don't need any tools or probes or rakes. The PVC pipe on that camera will be easy to find. Especially since you know almost exactly where it is.

-Charles

The area is near the inlet of the lake, with the monsoon, the river is muddy. The viz is already screwed, one foot at best. It's 18 feet or so, deep. And it was dropped from a moving boat, yes we have good idea of where it is, but it's not like it's off the end of a dock.

 

[charlesml3]

And it was dropped from a moving boat, yes we have good idea of where it is, but it's not like it's off the end of a dock.

Understood, but I think you'll find the bottom to be not at all like what you're describing. It's not going to be this shattered glass and fishing line wasteland. I'll be surprised if you find even one broken bottle. Most of the line I find is wrapped around stumps where the bass hang out.

We've found all kinds of things that have been dropped. Lots of sunglasses, deck chairs, umbrellas. Found a socket wrench that had been down there for more than a year once. Still worked.

Found a stapler that had been down there a while too but it didn't work anymore.

I still think you have a very good chance of finding this. That white PVC is going to make it a lot easier.

-Charles

 

[captain]

I have search for several items that the owner said he knew "exactly" where he lost it, never found one. Like the guy who put an X on the deck of his boat to mark the spot where he lost it.