I agree that you could not drive and fly simultaneously. Also, my trimaran has copious deck space well away from the shrouds, but I would still not attempt a deck landing.
I do not see a great way to do a deck landing on a moving object. I did see someone who flew into a catch net. It stops the drone, but I think any drone would suffer motor damage eventually. They aren’t like RC nitro engines. They are electric. I think they would keep trying to turn.
I would also take pictures in a place where you can stay on a tack for more than 5 minutes. Having to tack the boat is stressful while flying.
Also, I do not see that you would ever need to do a RTH. Still, you should set the parameters in case of an emergency. The drone has redundant systems, so in the case of failure, it will try to RTH per the parameters you set.
As far as chopping off fingers... I have hand landed my Mavic many times and never come close to the blades. I fly mine to about 2 ft in front of me, reach up and grab it as I shut off the motor. You can also shut off the motor before you grab it if you are really not sure. Hold your hand under it, shut it down, and it will sit right in your hand.
If you grab it while it is running, according to the program parameters, it may try to maintain its last position after you grab it. This will cause it to throttle up, so you should not attempt this if you cannot lift 3 lbs. Yes. 3 lbs. That is all this drone can pull. Think you can handle it? If it still scares you, just attach longer landing gear to give you greater space. I have never needed it.
The drone is just plain stable, rock solid in the air. They require practice to pilot, but the nicest feature is that, if you get confused, just drop the sticks, let’em go! The drone stops and hovers immediately.
That is a lot nicer than my old RC Hots that would continue in the attitude and direction it was flying when you drop the sticks... til it disappears... or hits the ground. For the record, neither ever happened. I did cream an Aerostar 60 during a balloon-pop contest! Parts and pieces.... that’s all I got back!
Also, there are about 2 sailboats in the world that could outfly this drone! And I am going to guess no one here has one! It’ll go around 42 mph in sport mode. I have never needed that for photography.
Oh, and the picture quality is good enough that my avatar photo is on my wall... in 12 x 24 mounted to foam backing, printed by Shutterfly. It is clear! This was not a shot I intended for print, or I would have flown from inside the cabin instead of standing on deck. I have photos of my 16 ft center console at 32 mph that are wonderfully clear.
The software is infinitely programmable, even hackable to the extent that people do crazy stuff.
Fly into a shroud? It would not hurt the shroud... OR this drone! The props fold... THE PROPS FOLD... look on YouTube... this drone is robust. I flew mine into my mailbox... it did not leave a scratch on either the drone, the props, or the mailbox... just my ego!
The drone’s sensors can be useful, or they can be a pain. However, you can program them or shut them off. Just use some sense, learn how to use it, and have fun. Think of your flight profile BEFORE you take off, and you will program the drone accordingly.
All that said, I would always have the drone, AND the boat, in the hands of competent pilots!
Frankly, if flying this drone seems hard, what the hell are you doing on a sailboat?!! Better get a powerboat right away!