What is a good drone for photography from a sailboat .
Asking for a friend 
Thor
One that you can afford to lose in the drink. Seriously I bought three cheap drones as part of package. Tried one out for about a half hour in the front yard until it got stuck in a neighbors tree. A gusty day knocked it out where my neighbor found it a few days later. I have not tried it again as Iāve been too busy but, plan to try it out again in a more open space before I try it off the boat.
Mike
BIANKA
1986 30U
Long Island
biankablog.blogspot.com
Hi Thor, I have a DJI Mavic Air 2 that Iām very happy with. It has performed well over the last couple of years that Iāve had it. Launching from the boat has to be done with care. Remember that when it returns to home automatically it wants to land from the take off point and that will almost always be different. Plus the drone isnāt waterproof.
With that in mind the shots and video are stunning to say the least. DJI has a large selection to choose from and is perhaps the largest drone outfit worldwide.
Ron
Ron & Diane Schryver
āAlpha Wavesā 1987 NS30U #393
Georgian Bay Midland ON
Thor;
You may find some sailboat-issues-fixes with drones in this video from Free Range Sailing:
May be worth a watch to see what āgotchasā hit them and how they got around them.
John Stewart NS26 046 Bath ON.
Thor,
Likewise, both RAN Sailing and Sailing Cadoha (on their respective Youtube channels) have done some videos on their drone work. Cadoha attached a handle to the bottom to make it slightly easier to recover their drone. IIRC, RAN put floats on theirs so that they could land on the water (though both RAN and Cadoha have lost and replaced drones in the last couple of years.) Travels with Geordie has also talked infrequently about drones (check out the travel videos rather than the DIY vids), and he detailed how he lost his drone to a malfunctionāthen it raced back to where it was launched (āhomeā) several miles back.
I have seen some floats made from either 3D printing or pipe insulation added to the bottom to give the drone some chance of survival in a water landing. Unfortunately to get enough floatation to increase confidence in recovery, you lose weight and aerodynamics. There is a sweet spot where those more or less equal out, but I donāt know that anyone as put forth the effort to find and exploit that sweet spot.
Note that some places are anti-drone. I canāt fly one in my marina, but thatās due, at least in part, to the marina being on a military installation with an active flightline.
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River, MD
Thor -
Stick with DJI brand drones. They are the standard and very reliable (GPS is key). I have the Mavic Air 2s which is really awesome. Iāve used other cheap drones and they can go crazy - potentially very dangerous.
If they are new to drones it will take them a good while to learn how to fly it and they should keep to land until they get really good at it. Catching a drone on a boat is the hardest part. Modifications have to be made to the drone to catch one while sailing, which takes a second person.
I still get very anxious when I fly mine and Iāve been doing it for about 6 years now.
Bob Gehrman
NS30U #396 āQuickbeamā
Baltimore, Maryland
I have a $30 one from Amazon that can only fly inside and although I have a glider license it took several vry spectacular crashes to master it. But for $30 itās quite the toy. Grandsons love them, pets not so much.
Catching a moving drone is obviously is a learned thing, like any landing there needs to be an stable approach pattern and go- no- go. I thinking in a park one person flying the other person walking ā¦ get the mechanics down. Maybe repeat in a dingy at a steady speed and calm weather absent wind effectsā¦
Hover and drive under, canāt see that working on a moving boatā¦ boat on auto pilot ā¦ match speed, slide in sideways and catch?
I will check out the DJI units.
For those that care:
DJI is a Chinese company with a somewhat problematic relationship with weapons systems. They have eventually done the right thing and stopped shipping drones and support to Russia (and Ukraine), but it took them a long time to get there.
That may or may not enter the calculus you use to buy a product. DJI is probably the market leader in mid-range camera drones, and for good reasonāthey do a decent job at a decent price point.
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River MD
Best approach Iāve found to catching a drone on a Nonsuch is to get ahead of the boat on the windward side and hover, then as you get closer a little tilt towards the boat and then a grab by a person standing on the deck. No shrouds helps!
Iāve also done it coming from directly astern and slowly ācatch upā to the boat with someone ready to grab it. That approach takes 3 people. One flying the drone, one to catch it and one keeping an eye on whatās ahead of the boat!
Unless Iām sitting at anchor it is impossible for me to do it solo. I donāt know how Erik Aanderaa does it.
A great drone (RPAS - Remotely piloted aircraft system ) for itās money it the DJI Mini 2. (DJI is coming out with a new DJI Mini 3). These drone can handle almost the same as any other of the bigger drones sold by DJI.
The biggest advantage of the drone is that it is under 249 gram. Many country like Canada, consider these as micro drones and have very little restrictions with them.
As a pilot you will not need to be certified to fly these not need to register the drone.
The only rule that apply to these are the following:
- Canadian Aviation Regulation (CAR) 900.06 ā No person shall operate a remotely piloted aircraft system in such a reckless or negligent manner as to endanger or be likely to endanger aviation safety or the safety of any person
- Avoid flying in Class F Restricted airspace.
Unless your planning on fling your Drone in heavy rain/wind you will be very satisfied with the results of the Mini 2.
Andre Lirette
Shediac Bay Yacht Club,
Shediac, NB
1986 Nonsuch 30U - Mawingo #344
Since I mostly solo sail my Nonsuch I keep trying to come up with ways I might eventually use a drone off the boat. My current idea is to put a small net like a ping pong net around the perimeter around my solar panels that make up my boats Bimini when flying a drone . It would make a nice large landing spot and the net would prevent the drone from sliding off. This of course would only be used when underway when the boom is off to the side.
Mike
BIANKA
1986 30U
Long Island
Did this ever get posted?
How to land a drone on a sailing boat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM_dogC2btY
(just ran across it again)
Brian
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River MD
Hereās one with a lot of great tips.
https://youtu.be/TnfkcJfSSwo
This one makes me cringe! I even ducked a few times!
I read Techdirt, but have no financial ties to them. No clue about how good the drones are, but for a third of the price of a DJI, and you get two of them, it might be worth looking at.
B NIemi
SV Serenity
Nonsuch Nereus #003
Pax River MD
As said before, stick with DJI. I now have a DJI Mini 2 (4K gimballed camera, 50kmh, several km range, 20-25 minute useable duration). It has the benefit of being 249g so it falls into the microdrone category (under 250g in Canada and most of the world except Japan), virtually unrestricted, in theory can legally fly it anywhere and at any altitude. As also mentioned, it aināt easy. Practice, practice and practice from land then maybe a dingy near land so can land ashore if need be. Finally, be prepared for total loss if it hits something solid or something wet. There are cheap third party float kits, might be worth looking at them.
In Canada and probably most other countries, a drone 250g to 25kg need licenses for it and the pilot. You are explicitly not allowed to pilot such a drone and the boat at the same time. However, <250g microdrones have no such restriction. Some day the powers that be may catch on and lower that to maybe 50g.
Alan & Tracy, āCorvusā NS30C #216, BPYC Toronto