Ever since we got the camera, the kids loved to experiment with it. It actually is quite intriguing to be able to go places and discover spots that would normally be inaccessible or hidden. In Ukanc, Slovenia the kids were able to catch some beautiful footage from a river that was simply too cold to swim in it. Climbing on a fallen tree and lowering the camera on a rope into the water had to be thought out first and without a plan would have failed. In this sense it helped our daughters to develop something that could be called a project.
This brings us to the Marina di Ragusa, on a December day. The sun was shining, the water was still acceptedly warm to bath the feet (at least for them). We had some extra time on our hands and so the kids decided to try something different. They could not apprehend how unique the whole thing would turn out.
The camera got mounted on a small tripod and buried into the sand at the beach. So far nothing special. From the screenshot above you can see, what the idea was. Capturing the movement of the waves, endlessly rolling ashore since forever.
Water tends to take everything apart. Give it the necessary time and it washes whole mountain ranges off and grinds it to sand. In this light, a little bit of sand around a tripod seems not very stable and was bound to fail sooner or later. So, it did sooner than later.
Both kids were caught up with something else when a particularly big waves managed to strip the tripod of its protecting wall of sand and wash it out into the sea.
The younger daughter was the first to notice and started to look out for the camera, yelling out for help. As soon as we heard her cry, we realized something terrible must have happened. We ran down to the beach and started to look for the camera. But it was gone, swallowed by the sea. RIP – so we thought.
Both kids were upset and disappointed. They felt like they failed with safeguarding the camera. We were all sad. After all, the camera was part of our equipment for quite some time now and we linked many good memories with its presence. We even started to look on the internet for a replacement.
Our only hope was that the tide would bring it back. But it was too late and too dark for another search party.
The next day, Chantal and I left the house a bit earlier than usually and went to the beach. Not really counting on finding anything, but hey, at least we gave it a shot.
Good thing we did. A couple hundred meters away from the very spot the camera was last seen and almost 17 hours later, there it lied in the sand. The tripod still spread out it sat there, waiting for us to be picked up. The sea spat it out like it was a piece of trash. Luckily for us. This was better than any other gift for Christmas.
Best part: The camera did film after disappearing into the water, for almost a full hour. So, if you want to discover, how it must have felt being tossed around, buried with sand and then washed free again, knock yourself out
-> https://photos.app.goo.gl/34ePnYVMs7io1awx7