Search & Rescue on a sunny day

[isujosh]

If ever there was an event that made me pleased I bought my Mavic 2 Pro it was this.

I was flying on Sunday next to an estuary in Essex (UK) and a couple of guys came up to me to ask if I had seen a windsurfer in trouble on the water. They were from a local sailing club and they had lost sight of one of their number and were trying to locate him. They thought he might have drifted a couple of miles away but couldn’t see him, or his craft on the water. I immediately said I would put my drone up and follow the coast, across the water to see if he was visible.

Within a few minutes I had located him, near a seawall, dragging his craft along around half a mile away in the water. There was no way they could have spotted him from their vantage point because the coast cuts in, making direct line of sight impossible. The two guys were amazed and quickly hurried off to help him take his sailboard/sail out of the water. About 40 minutes later they all returned and the windsurfer thanked me for locating him. They then asked what the drone cost because the sailing club often has club members going awol on the river and they have to launch their inshore rescue vessel to locate them. Having a drone would significantly reduce the search time – especially on race days. I think I convinced them that the investment would be really worthwhile. Every sailing club should have one.

Definitely a feelgood experience for everyone… luckily the weather was good, the water wasn’t rough and the windsurfer had managed to get to the shore at least, so not life or death, but definitely not an event to take lightly in any circumstances.

…..the funniest thing was that when I located and hovered over the windsurfer he flipped me the bird!!

 

[kjcbid54]

If ever there was an event that made me pleased I bought my Mavic 2 Pro it was this.

I was flying on Sunday next to an estuary in Essex (UK) and a couple of guys came up to me to ask if I had seen a windsurfer in trouble on the water. They were from a local sailing club and they had lost sight of one of their number and were trying to locate him. They thought he might have drifted a couple of miles away but couldn’t see him, or his craft on the water. I immediately said I would put my drone up and follow the coast, across the water to see if he was visible.

Within a few minutes I had located him, near a seawall, dragging his craft along around half a mile away in the water. There was no way they could have spotted him from their vantage point because the coast cuts in, making direct line of sight impossible. The two guys were amazed and quickly hurried off to help him take his sailboard/sail out of the water. About 40 minutes later they all returned and the windsurfer thanked me for locating him. They then asked what the drone cost because the sailing club often has club members going awol on the river and they have to launch their inshore rescue vessel to locate them. Having a drone would significantly reduce the search time – especially on race days. I think I convinced them that the investment would be really worthwhile. Every sailing club should have one.

Definitely a feelgood experience for everyone… luckily the weather was good, the water wasn’t rough and the windsurfer had managed to get to the shore at least, so not life or death, but definitely not an event to take lightly in any circumstances.

…..the funniest thing was that when I located and hovered over the windsurfer he flipped me the bird!!

When they came back to thank you, did the windsurfer acknowledge and or apologize for flipping you off? Great story either way, I just had to chuckle a little when I read that last line of your story.

 

[globetrotterdrone]

Well done, these are the good stories hopefully being told and remembered as well as the pessimistic ones.

 

[isujosh]

The windsurfer couldn't have been nicer and apologised for being rude - and we all laughed about it. I guess he could easily have thought I was just being annoying. Fair enough.

There's no way he could have dragged himself and his sail/sailboard out of the water without help, the seawall is 30ft high, slippery and steep in places so his two sailing friends probably saved him an extra hour or two more in the water as he made his way back. Even for an experienced windsurfer, that's a heck of a long time in cold water hauling your kit along.

Here we are, enjoying a post rescue get together



I reckon that with four batteries on rotational charge you could pretty much provide continuous support for the sailing club. During race weekends I'm guessing they can have up to 60 boats out on the river and countless other windsurfers as well. They all need to be tracked which is not easy when there are so many craft from other clubs also using the waterway. Launching a Mavic is way, way faster than an inshore rescue craft and the time to reach individuals - if only to ascertain their safety - beats a water based craft hands down. Maybe a MPE with the sound option would be a good choice for them.

Of course 95% of all the work would be exclusively over water. Hmm, not sure I'd be confident enough to do that at the moment.

When I get round to editing the other videos I took over the weekend, I'll try and put up a little bit of footage.

 

[Big buzzer]

Well done
The right time at the right place.
A good news story for a change.
We need more of them.

[QUOTE="isujosh, post:

 

[Big buzzer]

Perhaps you could edit your footage to highlight the rescue aspect?



QUOTE="Big buzzer, post: 780193, member: 81314"]
Well done
The right time at the right place.
A good news story for a change.
We need more of them.

[QUOTE="isujosh, post:
[/QUOTE]