'new' waterproof camera test

Various attempts to get decent water shots for this blog have failed miserably. My first attempt involved persuading Clyde and Colin to pay thirds with me for a quite good digital camera with proper waterproof case. I swam out one autumnal day with strong winds and decent sized waves, took a rude beating and had it washed out of my hands, and sink, never to be seen again. Clyde had more success recently with a GoPro camera. But being Clyde he left it on the cliff top  when de-rigging, and it was never seen again, except by the thieving bastard that picked it up.

Technology has meanwhile moved on so that people who are at all serious about photography are now moving onto aerial shots via quad copters. So I had a third go and bought a half decent, but cheap waterproof camera on Ebay, second hand, only used once in the bath and the bloke had very decently removed most of the images on the card. 

I did originally get it with ideas of mounting it on the boom and taking photos of other people as I was sailing along. If anyone is thinking of trying this, it doesn't work. Even on a long board in non planing conditions it's virtually impossible. But if the wind ever returns I'm confident I should be able to get some interesting shots with this little cam (a Fujijilm XP10, 60 quid). In the meantime here's some test shots of a seal at Hengistbury Head (ok, a dog at Hengistbury Head) and my attempts to recreate  the infamous Waimea Shorebreak shots, on a slightly smaller scale.