www.boatpix.com ??

[Jeff Asbury]

http://www.boatpix.com/

Has any one here bought into this yet. I was just flying along at about 7.5 knots in 20 knots of wind in Hurricane Gulch (LA Harbor, just passing the Angles Gate Lighthouse) yesterday at about 2:00 pm. I was in the process of trying to over take a Columbia 26 when this helicopter swooped down and started circling around the two boats. I noticed the folks in the Columbia waving at the chopper. I looked up and it had pontoons that had www.boatpix.com printed on them. I'm sure they had taken some nice shots of my boat. They came down low off my stern so they could get a good shot of the name on the transom.

So I was anxious to go on line and see if I could see the photos. Well, for starters they don't show any previews or thumbnails of the photos they take. They ask that you fill out their form with all your boat's identification and then they mail you 16" X 20" prints. If you decide to keep one it will cost $250. bucks. I might have been willing to pay $50. but their price just ain't in my boat budget.

Kind of disappointing because I was really moving and had the sails pretty well trimmed.

Oh yeah, I did pass that Columbia!

 

[Meanolddad]

Hi Jeff
We had a similiar experience a couple of weeks ago while sailing in the gulch. I was also put off by the $250.00 buy in. My wife wanted me to get one for my birthday and I still could not justify the money. I needed my sail and CF numbers to order them and did not have them handy at home. Seems he maybe working the gulch to make ends meet.
Fair sailing
Greg

 

[treilley]

I think they send you proofs for free(they used to) and you may see a shot you really like. Cannot hurt to look.

 

[Meanolddad]

Actually Boatpix wants your credit card info prior to sending the pictures to you. Keep which ones you want for $250.00 each and send the rest back. Probably to many people keeping the proofs and not buying the pictures. I just cannot justify the cost for a picture. You are also not buying the rights to the picture, for example I could not copy and send one to this website for the photo section legally.

Jeff, (or any other Ericson owners), would you like to meet outside the breakwater some time and take pictures of each others boats under sail some time? I would like to have a decent picture of Regulus under sail, I am to cheap to spend $250.00 on a photo.

The Columbia you passed may have been the one off our dock, he seems to go out quite frequently, more than I can say for most the boats in our marina.

Greg

 

[treilley]

Try and find a bridge to sail by. The aerial photos look pretty nice.

I can tell you that I did not like the quality of the boatpix photos and bought none. I did scan them first though.

The best photo I ever saw of my boat(previous Pearson 28-1) was one taken by a local photographer during the MS Regatta. He sold me the hi-res digital photo for $100 for private use only. A friend wanted to put it on the cover of GOB but his negotiations with the photographer never worked out.

 

[Chris Miller]

We've had good luck with Boatpix a couple of times... We get them as gifts for the owners of boats we race on. Their regatta photos usually have at least 1 or 2 really good shots in the group and their printing is top notch.
I'm not a big fan of their business model, but it's not my business:rolleyes_d:.
They have much better service than their new competitor out on the east coast: Photoboat (or something) who is getting a nice reputation of not returning phone calls or emails.

One very important thing with Boatpix- lay out the photos the day you get them and pick which one(s) you want to keep and pay for. Then IMMEDIATELY send back the others. If you forget or are just a day or two later than the contract states, you will pay for them all and they will at no point give you your money back.

So I guess I give them a Thumbs up, with conditions.

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Thanks for all the replies about boatpix.com,

Great idea Greg, about getting a bunch of LA Harbor Ericsons out in the Gulch with a nice stiff breeze and take some shots of each other. I have taken some shots of a friend's Islander, but I have to get pretty close up to them with my point and shoot digital cameras. I have one with only a 3 power zoom (4 mega pix) and that takes better quality photos than the new one I have with a 5 power zoom (8 mega pix).

I think if folks are serious about doing this I would recommend that they try to bring (or borrow) good cameras with telephoto lenses and high speed film or settings. Also, boats are not as a stable platform as a chopper or shooting from land. We do have the big Vincent Thomas Bridge over the harbor but there's usually no wind under it and it's not legal to walk over.

I really wish I could just see a thumbnail of what I know was a great shot of my boat beating up the Gulch. Just don't want to pay that much.

Very nice shot of your Pearson 28-1 Tim!!

 

[gareth harris]

The last time I checked, helicopter charter was about $1000/hr, so it is no surprise the charge is that high. I have taken some airborne photography, and the nice thing about the aerial view of a sailboat is keeping the whole mast and sails in the frame with a sweeping shot of the deck, and crew all visible, which is very hard to duplicate from sea level. Perhaps if enough of you got together to sail through the Gulch, with all of you willing to buy pictures, boatpix would cut the rate? Worth asking, since as it stands they must take a lot of pictures that never sell.

Failing that, maybe someone could go up the mast in a chair while the rest of the boats go by?

Gareth
Freyja E35 #241 1972

 

[Meanolddad]

Lets try to find a common day and givi it a try. I have a 7.1 with the 3x and it works well and also a good 35mm film camera with a telephoto lense. The 35mm does not get out much since the digitals came along. We can always try once and see what kind of pictures come out. Heave to and have a parade of boats sail by for pics and see how they turn out.

I do understand the cost of chartering the helicopter, though they probably would sell a lot more pics if the cost was less. The price is the same if your are in a large race or just out sailing. Quick nickel or a slow dime. I will always take the quick nickels.
Greg

 

[Bill Upchurch]

Photos

I have an interest in joining you guys with my boat, Golden Girl for an amateur photo shoot in the gulch or on the other side of Angels Gate.
Bill Upchurch

 

[Meanolddad]

I will see Jeff this Saturday and if we work something out I will keep you posted.
Greg

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Hey Bill,

Greg and I are talking about taking photos of each other's boats at Hurricane Gulch possibly as early as this coming Sunday. I will be posting a notice in the So Cal section as soon as I hear back from Greg and maybe Mike Bat. If this works out we would have a E-27, E-30+, E-32 and a E-35. I know there's a lot more Ericson's in the LA / Long Beach Harbors. Any one else?

By the way, I remember seeing Golden Girl on the water before.

 

[Bill Upchurch]

Pictures

Jeff,
Sounds good except I'm not sure I will have my Main back by then. I'm having another set of Reef points installed. I am also going to be away from the office for a few days and won't be able to monitor this site but my Blackberry address is bupchurch@firstregional.com . If you are able to put something together, please email me.
Thanks,
Bill

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Great Bill,

Maybe we could wait until the following Sunday. I haven't heard back from Greg yet. I will let you know on you BB address when I know. I know that Mike is having some work done on his head sail as well. Who's doing the work on your sail?

 

[Bill Upchurch]

Pictures

Jeff,

Tango and Alpha on D street in Wilmington. Mike is a friend of Bill Humphreys, who does some work on the Boat.
That would be nice if it worked out that the "shoot" was delayed a week.
Anyway, please let me know.
Thanks,
Bill

Maybe we could all get together and have a coke or beer somewhere soon. I will provide the libations and the place if you guys have any interest.

 

[Skip Jim]

Bill,

Do you need to reef the main often in the San Pedro area? I never had to in San Diego. I know you generally have more wind up there. Sorry I didn't put more reef points in for you. How is the boat doing? I sure miss her. I think you should buy a bigger boat and sell yours back to me.

Jim

 

[Jeff Asbury]

Photos of Ericson's Under Sail Day! Aug. 3rd!

Photos of Ericson's Under Sail Day! Aug. 3rd!

LA Harbor area. Hurricane Gulch . See So Cal. Section posting!


After getting messages from Meanolddad (Greg, Regulus II), Bill Upchurch (Bill, Golden Girl), Mikebat (Mike,Valinor), The consensus is to wait until Sunday August 3rd. I have talked to Greg and we are going to shoot for meeting at the area around Bait Barge in the middle of Hurricane Gulch between 10 & 11 am hopefully before the wind pipes up.

I have Greg's and Mike's cell numbers so we can call each other and decide on a VHF channel to communicate on. Off hand I am thinking 68 or 72 as they are non commercial channels. We could also decide where would be best to take the photos. Possibly inside the harbor if it's not too congested, or a few miles offshore.

As far as gathering up the digital photos or film, I figure we could exchange addresses through the back channel, private messages and mail the files and or film to each other.

Try to bring the best camera's possible. "If you don't look good, we don't look good". Didn't Vidal Sassoon say that?

This should be king of fun. Thanks to www.boatpix.com for the idea!

 

[P Abele]

I know nothing about this company but have heard them frequently "commented upon" over in the forums at at sailinganarchy.com. Personally if I wanted photos of our boat I think I could find a better and less expensive way to obtain them. (find someone with a powerboat to cruise around and take shots for little or even free if you know them well enough?)
Good luck.

 

[sleather]

Find someone with a powerboat to cruise around and take shots for little or even free if you know them well enough?

For you coastal guys, hooking up w/ a sportfishing boat w/ a tower would be an added bonus. Semi arial shots would be way cool! The boatpix shots are a bit too high for my tastes.

Have fun out there and be safe!

 

[Mikebat]

My neighbor in the next slip over, Mark, is a nice guy who happens to live aboard his power boat. I'll ask him if he wouldn't mind taking her out to be a photo platform on Aug 3. No tower though, his boat's a cruiser not a sportfisher.