Always in search of the “perfect wave”, surfer and photographer, Joel Coleman, routinely travels to the most remote corners of the earth. Of course, finding that wave is only the first step. Ultimately , recording and transmitting it for viewing by his audiences, proved to be a whole other challenge. The Australian runs a website called Saltmotion. He also exhibits his dramatic surfer images in a gallery in Sydney.
Each afternoon Joel posts that day’s photographic images of ocean scenes and people surfing to Saltmotion.com website and to a growing list of more than 10,000 email subscribers. Each photo is accompanied by a brief description of all relevant information, which might include conditions, geographic location, time of day and anything else that might be of interest to his viewers.
“Like many other surfers I have been travelling the globe in search of perfect waves,” Joel explained. In late 2010, I was invited by a group of documentary film makers to join them in their search for ideal surfing conditions in India. Given the isolated regions they were aiming to visit, the only way I could make daily updates to the Saltmotion website and my email subscribers was to find a mobile data solution that would allow me to send from anywhere in the world.”
Inmarsat’s Portable BGAN Service proved the answer that Saltmotion was looking for. He was so impressed by the BGAN Explorer 500 that he used for that trip that he returned to hire the same terminal again earlier this year. Inmarsat took an interest in his project and approached him regarding some co-marketing and sponsorship opportunities for 2011.
“Although internet access is beginning to reach some of the places I go, it is more often than not completely unreliable,” Joel said. “In fact in many areas when we travel to remote beaches internet access is non-existent. The Portable BGAN solution works perfectly for me every time. Its speed, mobility and reliability are very well suited to my needs. I gather the day’s photographs, write some text, then create a zip file and up-load it to our server. Our gallery staff can then create the daily updates and the email.”
Now portable BGAN is helping Joel share his spectacular images with potential tourists. He is partnering with a travel company – The perfect Wave – to bring the thrills of remote surfing to people on holiday.