19/01/2023
The Five Havens…
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Tuesday was a sad day. This shot is one of the very last photos that my OG Mavic Pro took before it’s untimely demise, plummeting into a watery grave. Just after capturing this shot with the drone about 1.2km away and getting low on battery, I noticed a warning about a “battery error” on the screen. I aimed the drone back towards where I was and headed it home. About halfway back the battery hit 20% and I immediately lost contact with the drone. This has happened from time to time and it usually reconnects a few moments later. After a few moments…and then a few more long anxious moments, I realised that the “battery error” I’d been warned of probably meant that the drone had lost power (most likely the battery has 5 cells and one was faulty, so at 20% it just died and fell out of the sky!). Unfortunately, I was over the water when this happened. Fortunately, not too far from shore. I’ll say one thing…the “last location” is pretty accurate, but it did take quite a bit of searching in the waist deep surf to find it! This photo is really one of the reasons I kept searching for it. I knew that the drone was finished after a saltwater bath, but at least I managed to retrieve the memory card in tact with this photo (and some other good ones). Hopefully I’ll be able to salvage the corrupted video of that final fateful flight. Farewell little Mavic. You served me well for almost 6 years. 😢
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