October 2016

Hello everyone,

Story of a drone

It had been on our mind for a long time, and Francette finally took the plunge: when she joined me on board Banana Split four months ago, she brought the object of our dreams: a drone designed to take aerial photos and videos the islands, all magnificent seen from the sky, where we?re currently sailing...
Before flying to the Tuamotu, as an expert geek, she took good care of downloading as indicated by the manual, the "3DR solo" app, essential to operate the unit. In Fakarava, we unwrapped the object, it was superb, but we soon enough fell upon the deadly sentence : "to be able to fly, it is necessary to download the latest update of the drone?s " firmware, and to follow online the first flying lesson to handle the device. " Did I mention that the Internet connection in the Tuamotus is the kind that could make you regret the ancient PSTN telephone connection at 56 k (remember the characteristic sizzle, like an army of locusts in action inside the phone?) ; although we tried it a hundred times, in Fakarava in Makemo and even, without results, each time we passed in the vicinity of a mobile phone antenna (no 3 or 4 G here, usually evebn Edge is deficient), but in vain, and we had to renounce photographing successively each of the lagoons we want you to discover.?

Three months later we were at the same point! So when it came time for Francette to fly back to Paris, I ended up following her, no, not to Paris but to Tahiti, a couple hours flight anyway) practically only to download this cursed update ... Housed in a Papeete hotel, chosen purposely equipped with a wide lawn, I could make my first takeoffs .. My private pilot license has not been updated since ... 1973, and I had some difficulties at the start, and my first flight ended in a loud crash against the trunk of a royal palm tree, fortunately without breakage. Everything was going well, then, when I realized, just before our flight, that the thing did fly, but did not film; Fortunately, there is in Papeete a store specializing in drones and GoPros, and they proceded to one more update. And when I got back on board Banana Split, Alleluia, it flew, and it was filming!

Here are some pictures, the fruit of these long efforts, my first fully independent aerial images - without having to rent a small plane or a helicopter; I must say that the premises were suitable, two of our favorite anchoring spots in the archipelago. The video images, I can not send them yet, but they?ll appear in the ?updated? version of our movie "Distant islands in Polynesia," which I will presented during our tour of lectures twith Connaissance du Monde, in various parts of France in November and December . You might even see one or two shots in very popular French TV show by Michel Drucker on October 30.

A few days of preparations before leaving the boat, and taking the Air Tahiti Nui flight to face the return to Paris. Wish me courage, I wish you as much

Antoine