Anyone else ever tried

justsomeguy · Jun 2, 2015

Well, given enough experience and enough money, we're still f****d.

Captn Scotty · Jun 2, 2015

Put some pool noodles on the landing gear and you can set it right on the water!

Jackdaw · Jun 2, 2015

I'm saving pennies and waiting for this one.

https://www.lily.camera

Chief RA · Jun 3, 2015

I just bought my wife the Syma X5C copter. Good info about using the noodles for pontoons! She just loves it, and then I had to order another one for my grandson!
Chief

kjretlaw · Jun 3, 2015

Take a look at this blog http://svdelos.blogspot.com/

They recently purchased a drone and have been flying it from the boat.

Warning the site can be additive to sailors.

Chief RA · Jun 3, 2015

Jackdaw: That sucker is trick! What kind do you have now? Chief

Jackdaw · Jun 3, 2015

Chief RA said:
Jackdaw: That sucker is trick! What kind do you have now? Chief

Chief, I have a couple of friends with phantoms, so that sorts me out for now. I'm waiting for a solid follow-me unit that will work on the boat. The trick so far is making sure it can get back to the boat without flying through the sails and rigging!

If the Lily smartens up in that regard that is the best option so far.

cb32863 · Jun 3, 2015

When we went out on Saturday for a shakedown sail we got buzzed by one and it hovered off the stern for a bit. Was white, had 4 rotors, was pretty good size too. Not sure where they were though.

solodare · Jun 3, 2015

Rick Moore, always promotes water proof drones. In fact he just had one hit the water and survive. https://youtu.be/jNtEupyrCQA
I say build your own though, rather then go for a store bought like his. Its pretty easy and you will never have to worry about getting it fixed because you will know it inside and out.
Of course if you only want a couple of shots of the boat and thats it... maybe find a friend that has one and is willing to go sailing with you. I could talk RC ALL DAY so PM me if you want more info. Or ask here if you think others will benefit from your questions. Just didn't want to geek out on you guys! FYI,

Chief RA · Jun 3, 2015

solodare: I don't think you will be percieved as a geek on this forum. I think it is great that we now know we have a knowledgable member on this subject! I don't know squat! Chief

Sailm8 · Jun 3, 2015

I've seen some great views from a kite flown off the boat.

Chief RA · Jun 3, 2015

Sailm8: Thats a good idea. My wife has a great 5' nylon kite! Chief

Paladin27 · Jun 3, 2015

I have flown my Phantom from the sailboat and also from a couple power boats. The best advice I can give is to prepare, prepare, prepare.

Make sure you have solid experience flying first... I'd recommend 50 or more flights before even attempting it on water.
Double check all batteries including remote controller and screen.
Understand that your GPS "home" location will NOT work, so you have to be super careful not to loose signal for any reason, or your quad will fly right to it's "home" and promptly drown itself.
Have at least 1 extra person on board besides yourself and the captain to assist with retrieval.
Fly for much less than the max time you know you can get out of your battery, give yourself a comfortable 2 minutes to return home and land should any issues arise.
It's REALLY easy to get SUPER far away over water and not realize how long it will take to come back, I recommend installing a talking timer app on your phone and have it announce every minute during flight and make sure you are on the way back to the boat well before half of your flight max time is used up.
Oh, and lastly... expect to watch all that money sink directly into the water... better to mentally prepare yourself!

Here is my first time flying it from my H23. It was a really calm day.

Here is a flight I did from a friends power boat

Delezynski · Jun 3, 2015

I want one, but am waiting for that FULL follow me! AND at a price I can stand!!!

Any one tied the Parrot BeBop drone? It looked like one that might work.

Chief, Where are you cruising at now? We are in Florida.

Greg

capta · Jun 3, 2015

My wife is really getting into making videos and a drone seems to as though it would make a great addition to her ability to capture sailing shots of the boat.
However, we rarely sail in less than 15 knots (or more, especially for really good shots) of wind and I'm not sure if they are manageable in those conditions. All the videos I've seen are in calm conditions.
Would someone with a bit of experience with drones get back to me about the practicality of using a drone in 15 to 25 knots of tradewinds sailing between the islands down here. Would it actually be possible to land one on a moving boat in those conditions?
Thanks.

Paladin27 · Jun 3, 2015

Capta, I have flown my Phantom in 20+ knot winds. The Phantom's top speed is a little over 30mph, so do the math if you want to go up wind and still keep up with a boat. It flies pretty good in strong winds, even gusting. BUT it takes a lot of concentration while flying in gusting winds as you will not be able to be as precise with landings... so you will want to practice a LOT with landing on small moving objects while it's getting blown around

Here's a video I did on a 20+ knot day... I flew into the wind for the first half of the battery so that I knew I'd have enough power to return home... it came back at well over 40mph with the wind at it's back!

capta said:
My wife is really getting into making videos and a drone seems to as though it would make a great addition to her ability to capture sailing shots of the boat.
However, we rarely sail in less than 15 knots (or more, especially for really good shots) of wind and I'm not sure if they are manageable in those conditions. All the videos I've seen are in calm conditions.
Would someone with a bit of experience with drones get back to me about the practicality of using a drone in 15 to 25 knots of tradewinds sailing between the islands down here. Would it actually be possible to land one on a moving boat in those conditions?
Thanks.

waternwaves · Jun 3, 2015

on calm days,

4 small balloons attached makes the copters little easier to control for over water operations.

and it floats out of the water.,

do not try this on a windy day.

DHaranSailor · Jun 3, 2015

I built out a quad for doing this one day. All in spent about $200 for a 300mm size quad capable of carrying camra & FPV (First Person View) gear. Plus other gear such as transmitter, cameras, and FPV goggles I will put in close to another $500 doing the budget route. I agree, obviously, to the build your own so you understand it. With today's offerings it is very simple as long as you can follow instructions and solder.

I'd suggest looking into FliteTest on the web and Youtube. I built their Electrohub kit. They have a good set of videos with step by step instructions for the whole thing and you can get everything in nice packages from them and their co-conspirators.

Paladin27 · Jun 3, 2015

Wow, I have about $3,500 into mine right now. I'm impressed you spent so little. What's the payload capacity on that 300mm kit? My 3D gimbal, GoPro and 5.8ghz transmitter weigh nearly 500 grams. I have a smaller (and much cheaper) quad with FPV only, but it can't handle wind hardly at all compared to the Phantom and can't even lift a GoPro, let alone a gimbal.