Trying to Take Back Some of the Caribbean in My Camera

I had a slight issue with my waterproof camera. It decided to get an error message while I was snorkeling. It happened somewhere between Bonaire and Aruba. Somewhere in my haste to download the pictures of Bonaire, I must have forgotten to check the battery/media door to the camera. There was either a grain of sand that got caught in the door or the rubber gasket has worn or the door didn’t snap shut tightly. I assume the first two issues caused the problem.

I was in the water in Aruba when I got the dreaded orange error message that the battery door is not properly closed. What? I powered off and powered on the camera and it appeared to working fine. A few minutes passed and I got the same error message again. This time, my screen started to scramble like a TV. I knew then that some of the Caribbean waters got into my camera.

Now, I’ve read a lot of horror stories from other photography forums and sites about other folks getting water into their cameras. The consistent problem has been not securing the battery/media door. You’re suppose to hear a loud “click”. That’s what I hear when I close my camera’s door latch. The second consistent problem is not checking the rubber gaskets for grains of sand, hair, or dust. Since I have two underwater camera housings, I know to check for these things. The third consistent problem is not letting the camera dry thoroughly before opening the battery/media door. I always soak my cameras in fresh water to remove the salt residue and grains of sand. I then let the camera dry out away from the sunlight. Usually, it takes at least 4 hours.

I place the broken camera in my snorkel bag. There’s nothing I can do at this point, but wait until I get back to the ship to assess the damage.

After a few hours of waiting for the camera to dry, I carefully open the latch and pull out the battery and the media card. The battery has a few wet spots on the body. The media card also has some water on the metal part of the card. Not a good sign.

My only hope is to let the camera dry out for several days with the latch open.

My hubby said I was trying to take back some of the Caribbean Ocean inside the camera.