Kip’s Comments - March 14, 2024

By Air, By Water - Multitasking

Today was another special day for 2024. Yesterday I put my dock in the river. That meant today I could put my Old Town Pack canoe on the water.

Yes, i could paddle the Pack without the dock in. But, to avoid scuffing it up, I prefer to enter and leave the canoe from the dock. Low water levels can make that challenging, but so far I have not fallen in. More importantly, new scuff marks are not being added to the canoe!

While on the water I added a task to my outing. For some time I have been thinking about photographing paddlers on the water using my drone. Since I was paddling alone, selfie pics were my only option.

I am happy to report my process seemed to work. My flights took off and landed at the dock while I was on the water. Small twigs around the dock were avoided and the shiny reflections of the water did not interfere with my downward obstacle sensor.

Old Town Pack Canoe on Wapsipinicon River - Image 868751

Now I have to learn to catch the drone in the air so I can take off and land on my hand while on the water. Since the drone does not have legs I am more apprehensive to grab it while in flight. I have done it a time or two, but am not confident enough to attempt an in-flight landing/grab while in my canoe. I just don’t want those spinning blades to connect with my flesh. I may be sensitive that way.

As you can see, I attempted to selfie styles - close and further away. Both worked and it was easy.

Old Town Pack Canoe on Wapsipinicon River - Image 868836