Day 5 - September 11th

A REMINDER

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Willis Lake Kayak Trip Today
(3.2 miles round trip by water, portage trail 440 yards round trip not in a maintained condition)

Cloudy, calm, and warmer today.  Got up early at first light and got some coffee on. Coffee and cookies for my study time. 

Side Window View While I'm Drinking Coffee During Study Time

Great Views From Inside the Boat All Around!

Dinette - Doubles As A Second Bed
(Laptop on right for writing text for blog, propane lantern used to minimize use of ship's battery at night, red drone on left)

I finished up my reading and made breakfast. Today a sausage and cheese omelet with extra sausage, accompanied by toast and raspberry jam, and OJ (see below). Cleaned up after and got everything packed for the kayak trip up to Willis Lake.  Hope to do some drone flying today!

Today's Breakfast.  I Eat Well!

I’m getting older or just not as nimble anymore and getting in and out of the kayak without getting wet is a real trick! I made it, but my heart was beating fast every time today!  I did not get wet or dump any gear thankfully!  The clouds persist but very little breeze, so it is still pleasant.  The trip up to Willis was very nice but no wildlife in sight! 

Great Kayaking In This Area of Cross Lake

The portage was in poor condition (see link below), so I walked it first with my pack loaded with drone stuff.  I figured I would come back for the kayak if the portage was passable. It really wasn't, so I set up the drone on Willis and took several flights.  

Video:  Portage Trail Between Willis And Cross Lakes

               Video:  Drone Overflight of Willis Lake - Reached By Portage Only          

          NOTE: The above video is the reason this post is delayed. It was a far more complicated project than anticipated                                        with numerous problems. Less than 4 minutes of video but took about 15 hours of work!

I forgot the gear extensions so I landed the drone in my hand at the end of each flight, since the surface was a little uneven. That worked fine. Took some shots along the creek with the gimbal and phone as I walked back (see video below).

Video: Small Stream Between Willis and Cross Lakes

Got off on the return trip without mishap and spotted an otter eating what looked like a clam, but he just would not stay put for a photo!  He came up twice, but no go!  No other critters and no moose.  Though I did see the same fishermen as yesterday across the pond as I worked my way back.  They scooted away and were soon out of sight. 

Video:  Kayaking Back to Boat Site - North Cross Lake

On return I set up the solar generator to charge up all the drone batteries and restore the solar battery too.  I was able to get the solar storage battery up from 64% to 85% with the afternoon sun plus I recharged the drone batteries.

Washed dishes and made dinner.  BBQ pulled pork, BBQ beans, coleslaw, hot ciabatta roll, and a cold beer.  The usual for desert.  Afterward I loaded up my drone with float gear and went out to try and get some more shots of me in the kayak with the drone tracking me.

I made a couple flights and found out one battery is defunct because it says the firmware is not current!  I know I checked them all before I left, but it looks like I have one battery out for the duration. (later it worked!)  

Thankfully I have five batteries!  I was able to get one short video (see Day 4) and then I got a warning that the video cache was full and I could no longer record video! Wow!  Sometimes things just do not go your way!  One good thing was that I did get two successful flights using the floats.  I just took off and landed from the water, since it was calm.  So some good, some bad!

I stowed everything back in the boat and may try again tomorrow.  I am having trouble moving files from my phone to the computer to free up memory but tonight I was able to move the video from the phone internal memory to the SD card memory, which should do the trick.  I have a large SD card in my Samsung S9+ phone (128 GB).  We’ll see next time I fly? 

It is clear tonight, so I will go out and enjoy the stars tonight before bed.  Tomorrow I plan to move, I guess.  I really like this spot and wouldn't mind staying another day, but there is more to do and see.