GordEtob

I checked with another boat rental place last summer and they quoted me close to the same price. But when I told them I wanted to go to the Long Point lighthouse, they said "No way" and that the open boat wouldn't be safe in rough water. Maybe they were just trying to get rid of me... About 10 years ago, I rented a 60-hp boat from a marina up at the narrows of Lake Simcoe and Lake Couchiching. For just a few hours of exploring we went to the first lock north of Lake Couchiching and back, and went through nearly two tanks of gas! (Five gallon tanks). I guess that was about 40 or 50 kilometres in total. The one-way distance from Port Rowan to the tip of Long Point is 35 kilometres, so if you do rent a small boat, make sure you have enough fuel to get back!

Some people have asked where Port Rowan is. It's on the Canadian side of Lake Erie. Here's a link to Google maps: http://maps.google.ca/maps?hl=en&q=por...108318&z=13

Last year there was some interest from people about hiring a boat to get geocachers to the "Get To The Point!" (GCXJWE) geocache on Long Point on Lake Erie. http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...cf-a08db805501c I'm attempting to organize a 32-foot charter boat from Crockett Fishing Charters to go to Long Point on Sat. Aug. 7th, 2010. Here are the details so far for the proposed "Get to the Point!" geocaching excursion: - They will charter the boat (a 32-footer) for a geocaching trip and take up to 12 people to Long Point from the Port Rowan marina. - proposed date is SAT. AUG. 7, 2010. Tentative departure: 9:00 A.M. - it takes 3 hours to get there by boat and three hours to get back; we'll probably stay no more than an hour (at most) at Long Point. So, 7 hours total is the estimated duration. - there is a ladder and a deck on the stern of the boat to get into the water. They can anchor close enough (in four feet of water) so that we could wade to shore. - there is a washroom on the boat. We have to bring our own food and drinks. - the charter fee is $500.00 (plus the dreaded HST), making the total $565. That would make it $47.03 per person. I figure on rounding it up to $50.00 per person (no child discount, unfortunately) and use the balance of $35 for food/drinks, or miscellaneous expenses, if that's acceptable to all. - the charter boat company is holding that date for me and will request a $100 deposit within 7 days. - "In the event of bad weather an alternate date can be set" Let me know ASAP if you're interested, and how many will be in your party. I have to provide them with the deposit by next Monday if we want that date or they'll release it. The first firm commitments will get priority. I'll keep a waiting list for maybe's or standby's. GordEtob

Were you thinking of Quinzee, M.D (GC18000)? Thanks, swimmrguy, that's the one! I see that it was only active for one season and then archived. P.S. Hi Tequila!

Has anyone heard of a geocache hidden in someome's backyard in an igloo or a snow fort, somewhere in the Ottawa area? I remember seeing it a year or two ago and wondered if it's back in action again. Naturally, I forgot to record the name of the cache or its ID number!

And thanks to Ventura_kids for trying! (413 in ONE DAY??? I've never been able to break my 25-in-one-day record!)

There is a cache in Sonora , California called Holy Macro (GC17WY1). It kinda sounds like the cache you are looking for but this cache is a Traditional cache. I hope this helps you out. "HOLY MACRO"!!! THAT'S THE ONE!!! Thank you VERY much, SB Junky! And I didn't even have the right cache type! Sadly, though, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it to Sonora -- it's a bit too far east of San Francisco/Oakland. But you never know, I just might be able to swing it....

I'm heading down to California next week for a vacation and plan to get some caching in. One is a mystery cache I had put aside to do if I ever get down there -- but I've lost the printout! The name eludes me and I can't even remember which city it's in! All I can remember is that you have to go into an old warehouse and look through many containers to find the cache. There was nothing to solve beforehand, as the co-ordinates were given. Does this vague description ring a bell with anyone? Thanks, GordEtob

I just looked at my "Add on" list by using the "Manage Add-on" tool. I saw the Java add-on and don't think I use it for anything, so I disabled it. Now the google maps from geocaching.com (from the "hide & seek) page, works perfectly! Although I do get a pop-us saying that the application wants to use a disabled add-on. I wonder if my "Java" needs updating....

Thanks for your feedback, Starbrand and Twolpert. I'm not very technically aware and don't know what add-ons I have (I'm not even sure what an add-on is!), but I haven't downloaded anything except the IE 8 update. I don't have any toolbars, by the way. I have McAfee virus and firewall, but I don't suspect that. I have not encountered "Tab error" messages on any website except geocaching.com. The funny thing is that SOMETIMES the link to Google with Geocaching.com works. It always seems to work if I do the following: display a cache, and then click "Find....all nearby caches", and then from that page, click on "Search for caches with Google Maps" that appears on the top of the list. The only "aggravating" factor is that I usually have a lot of windows and tabs open simultaneously when I get the tab error, but only on the geocaching.com tabs or windows. Some sort of stack overload perhaps??? (Since the message is "exception stack overflow").

I finally broke down and downloaded IE 8. I have Windows XP, by the way. Now when I try to use "search with Google Maps" from the "Hide and Seek a Cache" page, I get "This tab has been recovered" along with "A problem with this webpage caused IE to close and reopen the tab", and finally "We were unable to return you to geocaching.com". Two report icons are then deposited on my desktop. I looked at one and it has something about "Exception stack overflow". Thanks, Microsoft. Has anyone found any easy way to get this working?

"Near the trail". What is "near"? To me, it's a metre or two -- NOT TEN METRES!!! "Behind the tree". I have not found a tree yet that has markings indicating which part is the front!!! And the winner is: "Please rehide the cache as you found it". This drives me crazy!!!! Absolutely the most useless thing you can possibly put for an encrypted hint.

Sometimes I like doing the "numbers" game, but I like the challenging caches (mainly "tough" hides rather than physical-type challenge) and also exploring new areas is high on my list. Speaking of which, I've been trying to find people interested in tackling a 5/3 adventure, AND it's a cache which still hasn't been found yet: GC1KC7W Any takers? I figure it can be done for around $3,000 per person (Canadian)! [American Airlines flight Aug. 1, Toronto to Miami to Lima to Iquitos - 20 hour flight A.A. flight Aug. 8, Iquitos to Lima to NYC to Toronto - 18.5 hr flight]: $1,940.31 per person Cdn. (airfare) Hotel 6 nights in Iquitos: $400 Food 7 days: $150 - $250 Riverboat & guide: $100 Rain Forest Excursion

I just saw your topic, BrendaH, (I don't go to the Forums that often) and have had Long Point Bird Lookout on my watchlist ever since the cache was listed. I called a marina in Port Rowan to rent a motorboat -- just a simple 12-footer. But when I told them I wanted to take it out to Long Point, they said it wouldn't handle the rough water that far out and said they wouldn't rent it for that. I'd be interested in joining any group outing if it's not to expensive. I will be buying a boat and be happy to bring anyone along -- provided I win the $40,000,000 6/49 jackpot tomorrow!

Yeah, I noticed the scale bar is missing today. And I didn't see the other topics about this either!

My opinion: the new Google Map feature SUCKS! Yes, I like the smaller icons instead of the huge bubble map-pins. But that was a minor annoyance that I could live with. Now, there are three problems: 1) there is no index of cache listings to the right, which would be included when I printed off the page. I did see the "Show Cache Listing" pop-up, but try printing the page when that is being displayed -- the result is overlaid over the map and results in a real mess 2) when the the page is printed (without the "show cache listing" -- just the map) only the middle slice of the map is printed. All the margin stuff on the left and right is still there (Geocaching.com menu/ Zoom to address), but map data is lost! 3) After printing a map, you are no longer able to drag the map to look at a neighbouring area. Please bring back the old way, and just put small icons with a number attached! Or put a second hyperlink to Geocaching.com Google Map Old Way THANK YOU!

I wish I had bought one. I was out at a cache digging through rocks and afterwards noticed a HUGE gash in the screen in the shape of a "7". I checked out some local suppliers of Invishield, but they only carried them for PDAs. I ended up just buying the case protector for my Garmin. It now has a gash in the clear screen cover (I don't take care of my toys, do I?) but the unit was protected. I wonder if those "Liquid Lense" products that are supposed to repair scratches in eyeglasses would work on the glass screen. Anyone tried that?

While looking at your Los Angeles Homicide Map, it suddenly seemed to me that the map was a big target, riddled with bullet holes. Ironic.....

Maybe a well? How in heck did you find this anyway? Do you scan satellite photos for fun? Maybe it's some joke like the people that make crop circles....

That's bizarre! Has someone found a way to hack into Google Maps and insert this image?

I've noticed many times that around sunset, +/- 30 minutes my GPSr will quite often lose the satellite lock. This doesn't always happen, but I just wondered if there's anything to this. Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon? Is there any scientific explanation for this effect? Or have I just bumped my Garmin and/or head on too many rocks?

Ever since I got my GPS, I've used it on flights (when I have a window seat) to track our progress. When I see interesting towns or geographical features below, I take a waypoint and look them up on a map later. It's fun noting the aircraft's speed too - hundreds of miles per hour! I had no idea GPSr's might be disallowed.

When gas prices shot up to $1.35 a litre after Hurricane Katrina last year, I left the car in the garage for a few weeks and used transit to do my geocaching. With a day pass, and a good transit map, I was covering a large area and doing a lot of hiking too. I didn't get as many caches done in a day, but I felt like I accomplished something....and saved a big load of cash By the way, in that period I ended up driving about 15 kilometres a week for shopping trips only, as opposed to my regular 400-500 km per week! It soon became second nature to hop on a bus. I'm back to my energy-wasting habits now. But geocaching is worth the extra expense. P.S. For a one-day geocaching event, have you considered renting a car?

When I took my Scouter training course, I was chatting with some cub leaders on course. We all got on the topic of "KYBOs" (Keep Your Bowels Open, or vault toilets) after a Scouter dropped his flashlight down the hole. It was lit, and stayed running for three days. The Cub Leaders topped that -- they were on a camping trip with their Cub Pack, and somehow, one kid fell down into the hole. The other kids FINALLY told Akela about little Jimmy crying at the bottom of the KYBO. The leaders had the unpleasant job of rigging a rope sling and pulling him out -- and then hosing him off, fully clothed. Poor kid was probably never the same again. And the other kids would never, ever let him forget it.....

I was doing a cache today and ran into Jake's Goldilocks and he told me the sad news about Tony (1701eh). I'm still shocked and find it hard to believe. We have exchanged e-mails many times and I have only run into him a couple of times on the trails. He always managed to zing me with his sense of humour. The last time I saw him was in Centennial Park in Etobicoke and I was intensely searching a bushy tree for a cache. He sidled up to me and said in a stern voice, "Can I help you, sir?" He was wearing dark glasses and an official looking shirt, and I assumed he was a Parks employee checking out people up to no good in the park. I babbled on for a minute or two about GPS units and geocaching .... and finally realized who it was and that he was pulling my leg, and fully enjoying my embarassment! We both then had a good laugh. We talked a bit about "first to finds" and I asked him why people make such a big deal about them. He kindly and patiently explained that it was just a friendly competition among cachers. Ironically, I was trying for a first-to-find today -- in fact the first time since I ran into Tony. And I got it! I wonder if he was "helping me out". I'd like to think so. My heart goes out to his wife, Sue, and kids (I met his son once -- an affable rascal like his Dad) who must now cope with their loss. I hope Sue makes a full and speedy recovery. Tony was one of those people that was always willing to offer a helpful hand and a warm smile to anyone that needed it. He will be greatly missed.