Ocean Signal Supports Clean Jurassic Coast Campaigner’s Solo Kayak Challenge

Group founder Roy Beal will carry a rescueME PLB1 personal locator beacon and rescueME EDF1 electronic flare when highlighting outdoor safety during the hazardous 900-mile paddle

Ocean Signal is backing Clean Jurassic Coast founder Roy Beal as he bids to paddle across sea, rivers, canals and lakes on a solo kayak trip from John O’Groats to Land’s End, starting on 26^th May.

While promoting and educating about outdoor safety and essential equipment, the key aim of the 900-mile Top Down Kayak Challenge is to raise awareness about the impact of plastics in the marine environment and highlight the effects of pollution in all waterways.

Leading safety and survival specialist Ocean Signal is sponsoring Roy by providing him with the smallest personal locator beacon on the market, a rescueME PLB1, and an electronic distress flare, the rescueME EDF1. The beacon will give the environmental campaigner instant access to emergency services via the 406MHz Cospas-Sarsat satellite system during his six-week kayak adventure. The lightweight flare provides Roy with a safe and long-lasting solution to visual signalling if a life-threatening situation were to arise.

Roy, who works alongside a network of volunteers with the not-for-profit Community Interest Company Clean Jurassic Coast group to collect plastics and other litter along the UNESCO World Heritage Site, has made a video to promote the safety message.

He said: “I am promoting outdoor pursuit safety, so I am very grateful for the backing of Ocean Signal, and also Plan B Charity. Whether hiking, trail running or mountain biking, kayaking, paddle boarding or out on a boat or yacht, the outdoor world is a beautiful but unpredictable place and just knowing you can summon help is priceless. Anywhere there is a possibility for injury or changes in weather – are you able to call for help? Mobile phones don’t always have a signal, but a Personal Locator Beacon relies on the 406MHz Cospas-Sarsat satellite system, offering the best chance of survival when things go wrong.

“I hope this trip will inspire many people to be more aware about the effects littering and poor waste management have on the natural world. During regular beach cleans, I find all sorts ranging from 50-year-old washing up liquid bottles to the skeletal remains of fishing line entangled sea birds – a hard-hitting reminding of why this is so important.”

Compact and lightweight, the Ocean Signal PLB can be carried easily or attached to clothing, greatly increasing the chances of survival in a life-threatening situation for anyone out on the water or exploring in remote locations. The EDF1 flare is 40 per cent smaller than similar devices, burns for six hours and is safe to use and discard.

You can follow Roy on social media at @top.down.kayak.challenge on Instagram or Kayaking For Charity on Facebook, or visit the Kayaking for Charity website for more information.

Highlighting the use of PLBs, Plan B Charity was set up by the family of Dom Jackson, a kayaker who was lost to the sea in 2017. Dom’s only means of communication was a mobile phone stored in the rear hatch of his kayak and he was unable to access it when the weather changed and he got into difficulties.

For more information PLBs and further products from Ocean Signal, please visit the website at www.oceansignal.com.

Ends

Notes for editors:

Top Down Kayak Challenge: Living in a tent for most of the journey, Roy will set off from John O’Groats on 26^th May and kayak the east coast of Scotland to Inverness, along the Caledonian Canal and across the cold, deep waters of Loch Ness, emerging on the west coast at Fort William. He will then face the fast tidal flows of the Irish Sea to Liverpool, before entering the inland waterways on the River Dee. Following the canal networks and its many locks to Sharpness, Roy will then join the River Severn, Britain’s longest river and largest tidal range, onto the Bristol Channel which is well known for its hazardous tide flows and currents. The final leg will be the rugged north coast of South West England to Land’s End, before back-tracking one mile to land at Sennen Cove.

For further information, please contact:

Mikele D’Arcangelo

Ocean Signal / ACR Electronics

Tel: +1 954 862 2115

E-mail: mikele.darcangelo@acrartex.com

www.OceanSignal.com

or

Jules Riegal

Saltwater Stone

Tel: +44 (0)1202 669244

j.riegal@saltwater-stone.com

www.saltwater-stone.com