It’s never a good thing to see the strap of an electronic device protruding from a bowl of Uncle Ben’s uncooked rice.

About a two months ago, I was out fishing and had my waterproof digital camera in the vest pocket of my waders.  Unfortunately, I had been downloading images from the camera the night before and failed to secure the protective door over the battery and chip compartment.  As a result of a brief trip to deeper water where the upper portion of my waders got submerged, my camera also briefly became a water-born species, allowing for water to enter the battery compartment.  I noticed about 30 minutes later that my camera was now showing moisture in the view finder, and water droplets in the battery compartment.  Needless to say, when I got home, I did the rice trick in hopes of drying out the camera.  After 3 days, things didn’t look very good so I just set the camera aside.

Well, yesterday, Mary Ann did the same thing….forgetting to secure the battery compartment door on her camera when she went fishing.  So, two water-logged digital cameras in the Dozer household.  On a whim, I got out my camera that had been on the shelf for 2 months, replaced the battery and memory chip, and hooked the charging cable up.  Woohoo, it seems to be working just fine…the photo above was taken with it.  I’ll be watching it closely over the next couple of weeks to see if it had “recovered”.  As for Mary Ann’s camera, it is now in the bowl of rice above, and we’re keeping our fingers crossed and hoping to see good things in a couple of days.

Lesson Learned…always check and re-check the battery compartment door on the camera before hitting the stream.