Experience with Boatpix.com

[Juice6576]

I was sailing my home waters around Manitowoc, WI last Saturday when we were buzzed by a white helicopter. When we looked up at the choppper, the person in the bubble was taking a picture of us sailing. After he took our picture, he continued onward and took pictures of every boat in the area.On the floats of this chopper were big letters "Boatpix.com" When I got home, I checked out the website and it is a company that takes boat pictures from the air. You fill out your boat registration and information, date and location of the picture, and they send you the pictures to preview. If you don't want them you send them back via UPS/Fedex, etc at your cost. The interesting thing is that they ask for credit card info up front before they will mail the pictures, which you do not get to preview on line. I can't find the value of the upfront charges stated on the website. I understand the need for the business to cover the cost of the pictures, but I'm not about to give them a blank check, either. Needless to say, I am cautious about giving out such info over the net to a business I am not familiar with.Doe anyone have any experience with boatpix.com, good or bad? I can't think of a single boat owner that wouldn't love to have a great picture of his boat under way, but I hate to get ripped off just as much.Thanks,Mike

 

[Darrel]

Expensive

Hey Juice, Boatpix.com does a nice job with the photo's. Usually very sharp, crisp action shots from the air. However they are not cheep.For a 16x20 expect to pay between $200-$300 unframed. They have to recover cost to fly that chopper and probably around 1 in 20 photo's are actually purchased. Believe they are a stand up Company in that they will deliver the photo's and will not charge your credit card if you return the unwanted pix within the established time frame.A good way to get good photo's of your boat underway is to coordinate with a couple of other boatie friends and so out and take pictures of each others boats. Shoot up a roll of film on each boat and then select the best ones and have them enlarged to the size you want and suitable for framing if you choose.Get a group together, go out for a sail on a beautiful day and click away.

 

[Don s/v Tellico]

I never got any responses from them..

Same situation, buzzed in Annapolis harbor. Several emails, no response.

 

[Tim Welsh]

bosuns chair

Have someone go up in a bosuns chair on one boat and have all of your buddys sail by and take pics, then have one of your buddys do the same for you.