add a/v to salvage equipment

8/14/2019 Add A/V to Salvage Equipment

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Add Audio/Video to your salvage equipment.By Douglas Gould ©2007

Its not unheard of for a pure salvage claim (or even a contracted one) to

deteriorate into a “he said/she said” exchange once the insurance companysees the bill. Suddenly, the on-scene shouts of “I’m on the rocks” becomes “Iwasn’t that close to the rocks”; or “We’re getting pounded by the waves”turns into “it wasn’t that rough…” Sound familiar?

Technology has come a long way in the last decade, and there is no reasonthat today’s modern towboat operator and salvor shouldn’t be equipped to

produce objective evidence of the conditions, statements and actions of allthose who are involved in a salvage evolution.

Most marine assistance operators carry at least an inexpensive still camera,and the old adage still holds true that a picture tells a thousand words . Asimple snapshot of a 40’ Express Cruiser on a breakwall will certainly tell

part of the story – in some cases that is all that you will need to plead your case. But sixty seconds of video showing that Express Cruiser working back and forth with the surge, the waves breaking over her transom, and thefrantic shouts of her owner will represent the reality of the situation far morethan a static, still picture ever will.

The digital revolution has made adding video recording capability reallysimple and inexpensive when compared with what was available just 6 yearsago. Perhaps it’s not all so complicated and expensive as you thought?

If you don’t have any video equipment yet, I suggest that you begin with aminimum investment first: a $300 ‘handycam’ will get all the video youneed. Don’t buy an expensive camera! For one thing, it probably won’t lastmore than a season or two under the stress of the marine environment, andsecondly, you don’t need broadcast quality footage, just something that can

be put on a DVD disk for viewing by the insurance company.

Be sure and get a camera that records in digital format. The MINI-DVformat is a great choice. You want a digital format so you can easily processthe video on your computer, and then make multiple copies on DVD disks. Asimple editing program (like Microsoft’s Digital Image Suit+, about $120)



will do all the editing and copying you’ll need. Digital will also allow you tocreate a still photo from a single frame of the footage.

Look for a camera that is really easy to use; the less buttons the better. Youdon’t need image stabilization (sometimes called steadyshot), or titles or inthe camera editing. You want a big red ‘record’ button and easy lenszooming. A good resource to find a cheap camera is eBay. If you havemultiple boats, consider buying identical cameras; that way your boatoperators only need to learn the camera operation once and don’t fumble thecontrols at the critical moment.

Usually, your captain will be operating alone, and therefore cannot drive both boat and camera simultaneously. The solution is to bolt a simple tripodhead directly to the dash or other surface convenient to the boat operator. A

quick release plate makes mounting and removing the camera very easy. Allthe captain has to do is press record and turn the camera towards thecasualty.

Monfrotto 3229 is a simple tripod head with a quick release plate, and can bethrough bolted to a dash or console. Available for about $35.

Another advantage that a video camera has over a still camera is the audio.The camera is also recording all the sound within range of its built-inmicrophone. Most cameras will also have a auxiliary audio imput plug, soyou can mount a small microphone inside the pilothouse and recordeverything that the captain hears and says. At times, the audio becomes thecritical evidence when people begin to alter their statements or forget what



was actually said. Everyone at your company needs to be very careful to beclear and precise with their verbal communications during these episodes.

John Andrews at Safe/Sea felt that the issue of confused, conflicting or revised statements was such a problem that he has installed an 8 channeldigital voice recorder in the dispatch center. The Total Recall Voice Logger is really just a huge hard drive (manufactured by Total Recallwww.totalrecallvr.com.) This voice activated recorder is on all the time, andrecords every phone call on 3 phone lines, plus the conversations of 4different VHF radios. Searching and retrieving recorded files is very fast andeasy. This device is useful for lost comms cases, replaying garbledtransmissions as well as producing audio evidence of a verbal contract.There may be legal issues with recording phone conversations in your state,so check with some legal authorities before plugging all you phones into a

recorder. Recording VHF transmissions is generally legal.

After a few years of R&D (aka, trial and error), Safe/Sea has more or lessstandardized the audio/video recording package on all 5 of their jet powered

boats. A small, waterproof “helmet cam” is strapped on the top of an ARCremote spotlight. This allows the captain to pan the camera through 360°,and point the camera to where the action is. A second helmet cam ismounted in a fixed position facing aft.

Weather tight helmet cam mounted on top of spotlight: as the spotlight rotates, so does the camera.(photo: Nick Leblanc)



Up to four helmet cams can be wired into a Clarion A/V switch box, whichthen feeds the signal to a Sony Min-DV camcorder. The camcorder isswitched to the ‘VCR’ option, so it is functioning solely as a video taperecorder instead of a camera. A small button on the dash allows the captainto select which camera is actually feeding the recorder. Two microphonesmounted in the cabin provide an audio feed, also through the Clarion switch

box. The video can also be seen on the 10” GPS screen, so the operator cansee a large version of what the camera is recording.

Many of the newer chartplotter can be used as a video display screen, so you can see a nice large picture of what you are recording. (photo: Don Rich)

From the operational end, this system is pretty simple to operate: turn on the

power, select which camera to record, and hit the “record” button. Onedrawback is that you are limited by the length of the videotape - usually onehour with Mini-DV. A multiple camera system like this can involve somesophisticated installation challanges, since most of the equipment neededwas never designed for the marine environment.



A peek inside one of Safe/Sea’s cabin ceiling compartments reveals

the complex wiring that supports the video system onboard. (Photo: Nick Leblanc)

Don Rich of TowBoat/US Mystic has installed a digital video recorder thatcan record up to 4 cameras simultaneously; it is similar to systems in use in

police cars. Once the system is turned on, it continues to record until it isturned off. (Don says it has a capacity of a few hundred hours of footage) Ahuge advantage of this system is that the captain can’t forget to hit the record

button, nor does the captain have to select which camera gives the best picture: all 4 cameras are being recorded simultaneously. The footage isrecorded directly onto a huge hard drive that is easily transported back to theoffice for downloads and editing.

Don also mounts his cameras on spotlights – Don’s lights can tilt up anddown in addition to panning. Most of the helmet cameras are pretty wideangle, so the ability to tilt may not be that critical.

In addition to 2 daylight cameras mounted on remote spotlights, Don hasone FLIR video camera (originally FLIR stood for Forward Looking Infra-

Red , it is also the name of a company that makes thermal imaging products.(See www.flir.com).



At first glance, the FLIR might seem like an extravagant waste of money, but with the FLIR video feed displayed on his Garmin 10”chartplotter, Don has a very effective night vision system that helpswith navigation among the rocky shores on a dark night, and of course gets great videos of his dark and stormy salvages. (photo: Don

Rich)

Towers like Don Rich and John Andrews have built custom A/V systems tomeet their needs by assembling off-the-shelf parts borrowed from other applications like the automobile, marine, security and outdoor adventureindustries. Other solutions and applications are certainly available, and asthe luxury yacht industry increases the use of video surveillance systems

both in engine rooms and on deck, more options for our application will beforthcoming. The one thing that probably won’t change is the need to

document your salvage operations in as much detail as is practical for your situation.

add a/v to salvage equipment

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