Drone from and to a sailboat

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Full Disclosure: I am a total newbie, just got my Mavic Mini today and I've never, ever flown a drone before!

That said, I am a licensed captain and an avid flatwater kayaker, and indeed using a drone while on paddling trips is one of the main reasons that I want a drone. Being fully aware of the risks of a loss in the water, the need for TONS of on land flying first, good insurance rider with my insurance (Statefarm) etc.

While I'm not even close to being ready to use my MM while paddling on the water, I have done quite a bit of research as to who is already doing this, how, with which drones, etc. I chose the MM for it's ease of use, small size, and low cost.

I have seen several tutorials on how to "hand catch" a MM, and that will probably be my preferred method as opposed to setting up some kind of landing deck. This video gives a pretty good description of how to hand catch a Mavic Mini--again--I'm only sharing this as I've never done it myself!

Flatwater kayaking is a great opportunity for drone footage / photos.
Stressing flat water, and calm.
I've paddled a fair amount (pre drone), not sure I'd do it where we might go (choppy etc).

You are multi tasking, so need a good system to be able to take control quickly.
Paddle tethered is good.
Risk to controller with water is a big problem, the drone etc too before it's airborne.
I've thought about it for future, a controller should be ok in a large semi aired out clear plastic ziplock bag, the sticks should be fine, and signal etc no a problem, can also push pause, rth, etc.
Limited to a phone view probably, but for those sorts of flight not a big problem.

I am curious, why did you pick a drone with no active track ?
Obviously the size is fantastic for storage on the water, but active track would work quite well with paddling, contrasting colour of a bright PFD etc.

Something to think about in future, maybe the Mini can be your learning aircraft, and you can get into an Air 2 or a first gen Air.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

And when it’s time to land and I’ve got everyone down below, I get my Mavic Pro (my designated water drone) to a hover alongside the cockpit, where there are fewer protruding lines (rope). If you can hand-catch your Mavic on dry land, this part is no different on a steady boat. If it’s not steady, with pitching waves, I wouldn’t have launched in the first place. My contingency in case the good weather degrades during the course of a battery: I will crash land into the inboard side of the safety netting, under the railing.

The M1P (my first and still main drone) are pretty good, as long as you get that good grip underneath fast and hard, that quick turn in its side and it's motors are shut down in a split second.
That would be my method (on land or water) if it was slightly windy, the M1P was jittering around a bit next to me (or a boat was moving a little too uncomfortably).
Otherwise, the slide the hand underneath and not activating lower sensors, then left stick down and hold, is less stress on the aircraft motors long term.

 

[Mavic Maxwell]

This has been posted here before, but always good to watch . . . get good at it, and you can do this . . .

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Hadn't seen this before, so thanks.
I admire the bravado but not the method. Looks to me like the intended catcher missed and was fortunate the guy at the helm had swell reflexes (no pun intended). Good fortune rather than good judgement.
I have started biting my nails again since watching this LOL.

 

[MAvic_South_Oz]

Hadn't seen this before, so thanks.
I admire the bravado but not the method. Looks to me like the intended catcher missed and was fortunate the guy at the helm had swell reflexes (no pun intended). Good fortune rather than good judgement.
I have started biting my nails again since watching this LOL.

Yes, I think they just wanted some extreme footage, their channel has loads of flights from the boat, most of it pretty sedate to moderate, and you can see they are used to flying from the boat.
I guess these youtube pros need constantly more interesting footage to keep the subscribers coming.

That said, I'm sure the whole crew would be well versed in how to assist the drone ops.
My feeling is this pilot would be a pro, very experienced, and have probably 3 or 4 drones on board . . . and not afraid to lose one either.