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Vismo Tracks North Sea-Atlantic Ocean Paddle Board Expedition
1 June 2021
Craig Swallow
On Sunday 9th May, 2021, Colin Dale, Vismo Director of Global Sales, began a self-supported expedition across Scotland, paddle boarding the Caledonian Canal. The expedition began in the North Sea in Inverness, where Colin travelled by paddle board around 18 miles per day. The Loch Ness was a large part of the journey, it spans two miles wide and has its own tide. Colin had to battle with this on one particular day where he had to sit down on the board and use both blades to paddle “kayak” style, due to the strong winds. On the journey, Colin travelled through Foyers, Fort Augustus and Gairlochy, whilst taking in the beautiful Scottish scenery. Four days and 65 miles later, Colin had paddle boarded his way to the Atlantic at Fort William, battling a few storms along the way.
Colin took a Garmin Mini device on the expedition, a truly global satellite device which uses Global Iridium coverage over the earth’s surface. The Garmin Mini is small and lightweight, making it an ideal device to take on the trip. The device comes with a carabiner clip, which enabled Colin to safely secure this to his buoyancy aid. Most importantly, the Garmin Mini is waterproof and survived the occasional plunge into Loch Ness.
The Garmin Mini is integrated with the Vismo Secure Portal, enabling the Vismo team to live track Colin on his journey, it also has a Panic Alert if required. A satellite device was an ideal solution to take on the trip, as accurate locations are still reported to the Vismo Secure Portal when there is no cellular coverage. The device also has a long battery life, it sent locations back to the Vismo Secure Portal every 10 minutes and after four days, it was still going strong. The maps below show the historic trail from Inverness to Fort William on the Vismo Secure Portal. The trail on the right shows the journey in a closer view, enabling the team to view the locations taken along the canal.
Congratulations on completing the challenge Colin, we look forward to the next one.
To find out more about Vismo or the Garmin Satellite Devices, contact us:
Email: enquiries@vismo.com
Call (UK and RoW): +44 (0)1904 616666
Call (USA): +1 866 815 9128
Visit: http://www.vismo.com
