661 - Kiptopeke Breakwater
Today I almost sunk my drone in a sunken ship.
The game was the Kiptopkee Breakwaters, which are pronounced kip-TUH-peek in case you were wondering. They’re these massive concrete ships on Virginia’s eastern shore, which were sunk after WWII in order to create a breakwater for a local ferry.
But before I go any further, load up Google Maps. Punch in “Eastern Shore of Virginia.” Now take a look. Why did they even acquire this stretch of land?
Give it to Maryland or Delaware for god’s sake.
Anyway, that’s where we were. Straight up in the middle of nowhere. The only thing happening down here is fishing, and a lot of it.
The pier at Kiptopkee State Park was damn near stacked with fishermen. The hardcore type too. The ones that sit there all day with a cooler, umbrella, and a hat that you know has seen some shit.
But I can’t blame ‘em. There’s nothing like hoping a rusty fish catches your line while staring at concrete rods for 8 hours a day.
Which brings me to my drone. You could see the ships from the pier, but the composition, even with a 100-400mm lens, is wack. It’s merely silhouettes on the horizon from here.
The real juice is up close. Either with a kayak (which we didn’t have) or a droney.
The only problem was that the wind was whipping like cream. I don’t know if it was normally like this out here, or if this was just a one day kinda situation, but it was borderline hardcore. Hats blowing away type shit.
My first instinct was that my drone wouldn’t last a second.
But I decided to load it up anyway. We drove too far not to risk it all. Plus, this thing’s* only $500 at Walmart.
*I’m referring to the DJI Mavic Mini Pro III. Which, you're about to see, is actually an an absolute unit.
I flew her into the dead of the storm, and she held up surprisingly well. I’ve had my fair share of drone incidents over the years, but this sucker gave that wind a run for his money. She didn’t even stagger.
Here’s some of the shots I got:
Gorgy.
Oh, and here’s the shoreline we launched off of:
You can see some actual video clips in my official Reel too, if you’re interested.
After that, I flew back the drone and we got the fug out before I went too far. There’s a tendency with these drone shots to get greedy. Even though you have what you need, it’s easy to push your luck to the point of demise.
You know, one of these days we’ll have to bring a kayak out to these sunken babies. I can’t do 'em all with drones.
I’m looking at you, Mallows Bay and (eventually) Curtis Creek. 👀
