Victoria Classic Boat Festival – Boat Database

Dear Boaters,

The MMBC Victoria Classic Boat Festival would like to start capturing all our boats in video and build an ongoing permanent database to preserve the history of all of our vessels.

We need your help! We would like you to capture the story and history of your boat in a homemade 10-minute video. Just use your phone camera, walk through your boat, and tell the story!  We would like to feature one boat on our Facebook page every couple weeks.  It doesn’t have to be fancy or high quality, just capture the beauty and story of your boat, we will share it, and archive it for our shared history.  We also hope to make these clips available to visitors to the boat festival with a QR code link on your rigging cards in future years when we can run the Festival in person again.

Please see the link below to the sample video I made of Messenger with my iPhone as an example.  We are not expecting anything elaborate, just a walk around your boat to capture how it looks now, and to record the pertinent history.  Please try to keep it within 10 minutes.

If you need advice, please contact myself, Bill, or Laura, MMBC School and Public Programs Manager, at lrobin@mmbc.bc.ca and we will see how we can help.

Script

Things we are looking for:

(Keep it simple and add whatever seems appropriate)

• Present Owner
• Previous Owners
• Designer
• Builder / year / where built
• Construction Materials, Fastenings
• Rig
• Engine HP, Model, what was original power?
• Major work done – Who did the work? Which yard?
• What are significant changes from original?
• Show exterior shots, Engine room, Interior spaces
• A few good sea stories or yarns about the boat are important.

A few tips, I used Apple computer with iMovie which makes it easy to voice over and edit, but all that is required is a walk and talk around your boat.

1. Holding camera horizontally often will give a better field of vison and look. Use two hands for a steadier shot.
2. Shut down as much background noise as possible before starting filming. Do a test run to hear how sound is. If you have headphones with a microphone, use them!
3. Do some test runs on your filming, inside shots may require extra lighting from turning all lights on, or use a trouble light etc.
4. I found it easy to walk by points of interest too fast, so pause and hold so the viewer can absorb what you’re saying. Move slowly while you film so the camera can focus on the shot and you can have a clear video.
5. Clean your camera lens before shooting! It’s easy to forget this step on our cell phones.
6. It is also good to just use still photos with/or instead of a video.

To submit your video, please complete the form above.

If you are having any problems with the link, email your video to Maleah, MMBC Membership and Donations Coordinator, at mschmitke@mmbc.bc.ca.

Please note that when we submit your video/photos you are granting the Maritime Museum of BC permission to do some light editing and to post it to their website and social media pages. All submitted videos will receive a CBF title and closing slide. Our plan is to release one video every few weeks on social media throughout the summer to keep the spirit of the Classic Boat Festival alive despite COVID.

Thank you in advance for preparing and submitting your content!

Sincerely,

Bill Noon

Chair of the Victoria Classic Boat Festival

Director on the Board of Directors at the Maritime Museum of BC