Taking videos on board sailing boats using a boom camera

Going sailing and you never get pics of yourselves sailing the boat? Maybe you don’t need a low corrosion selfie stick!

DIY selfie stick for rough use on boats

John uses a broomstick with a camera mount on the end

Video and digicams with a camera boom are the answer!

John Goodman and family have been using the combination for most of the past year during their adventures building, launching and then using the green Goat Island Skiff called “GIR” in a range of different events and outings including the Texas 200 RAID like event.

I will ferret out the details of what camera is being used and what boom, but here is a taster of what John Goodman and family have been able to come up with.

A bit of weight makes the camera more stable – the steadicam principle

It is amazingly steady – I am not sure if it is the camera’s electronic stabilization or the steady camera hand of the operator.

It opens out all sorts of possibilities.  Here is the Bow wake of their Goat Island Skiff.

The still photo results have been good too.

And more videos

Perttu in Finland has a DIY selfie stick on his boat

Perttu in Finland takes a different approach with his diminutive OzRacer and his self designed Ocean explorer – using an extreme wide angle lens on a digicam.  This works if you boat is under 8ft long and you have long arms!

If you want to read more about the Goodman Family’s exploits and the building of the Green Goat Island Skiff look at the thread on my forum – it includes building, cruising sailing, the Texas200 and a river cruise John did on a partially wild river.

More from John

Michael,

The camera we used during the Texas 200 was a well worn Olympus pocket camera that had provided me 2 years of good service. Unfortunately the shutter motor that opens the protective screen over the lens broke and we could not repair it. So our video record of our summer was cut short. Olympus has since repaired the camera for a fair price.

The pole was a spur of the moment purchase at the local hardware store. It was the cheapest steel 4ft pole that could expand to 8ft. I figured if it worked for the Texas 200 then rusted up I got my monies worth. I even used the same type of expandable pole for my tiller extension. The end of pole attachment was originally designed to hold a paint brush. We removed a few extra pieces and found a bolt and setting nut that was long enough to fit thru the brush attachment and into the camera.

We lashed the camera to the pole with a lanyard and the end of the pole had a leash that would slip over our wrist.

Both the camera pole and the tiller extension locking mechanics have rusted and are no longer locking well, so I am going to replace them with a fiberglass pole, but dissect the guts of the locking mechanics and protect any steel parts that may rust.

Camera: Olympus Stylus Tough 6OOO. Lens 3.6 X Optical wide zoom. 1O mega pixels. Water proof. Shock proof. Hyper crystal view.
Pole: Extendable painter’s pole with paint brush holder attachment.

Thanks for the interest

John D Goodman