Cache By Boat?

[Lurch77]

Has anyone ever hide a cache in a place such as an island on a lake or river? I considered it on one nearby that would require a canoe or something. It would be understandable that fewer would find it due to no access to a boat of some kind. But I wonder if most people, even those with a boat, would just write it off as too much trouble?

 

Another option, our river gets very shallow during the summer months. There are points that are no more than ankle deep. You can wade out to islands. Too much trouble? Would I be held liable for anyone hurt or drowing? Are there other reasons it would be a bad idea?

[+StarBrand]

Lots of such caches are out there. I breifly considered one on an island in the river but never got around to it. Also lots of dangerous caches out there, make good note of the possible dangers is about the best you could do.

[+Stargazer22]

Caches that are boat accessible only are fairly common here in Florida.

I just hid one myself this past weekend and put it up for review this morning.

It's a 2.5 mile paddle one way down a run between a springs and a lake.

Then another .4 miles one way up a creek to a small lake. It wil require a canoe or kayak to access since the creek is too small for motorboats.

It's in an area filled with turtles, gators, and snakes.

I only expect a few visitors a year due to the placement and difficulty.

Just make sure that cache visitors understand what they are in for when they go to find your cache.

Be sure to rate the terrain as a 5 if it requires a boat to access.

 

Good luck and enjoy reading those adventurous find logs!

[+NeoAddict]

Go for it! Plenty of people like to do boat-caching. Just be sure to rate it properly, and include the attributes of boat required and may need to wade. Also be sure to note on the cache page what might happen to water levels during warmer months.

In reading other logs for boat-caches, there are fewer visits, but the log entries are always more interesting and longer!

[+spacecop2566]

I'm also a kayaker and love hydrocaches. Not enough hydrocaches.

[+StaticTank]

I recently found several caches that required a boat. Another cacher and I spent 3 days this month before going to work boating to 4 caches in our area. This weekend I will be in Pierre, SD and will be using a boat to get another cache. I enjoy them very much! They just take a little more work.

[+BlessedBees]

One of our favorites required a boat (or snowmobile in winter!) to get there -- 3 HOUR TOUR. The only hang-up would be making sure that it is maintained. You need to be able to get there to keep an eye on it. If someone does have to 'do a bit' more to get there, it helps if the cache is well maintained. (Just like someone wrote in earlier, you will probably get better logs, but you have to make sure there is room in the log and that the cache is dry!)

[+whereissit]

Here are two that I know of.... Lacey V.Martin in Ocean City, MD. Last accessed in August of 2007. And Miss Blue's Dog Haus near Lovettsville, VA.

[+Renegade Knight]

I placed on on an island that was situated such that you would be hard pressed to get to it by boat. No place to land your boat or grab something to steady yourself because of the fast water. The ideas was for people to have to fish with a magnet.

 

Of course when the water is low enough that all changes, but most years it would be a challenge.

[CoyoteRed]

Plenty of caches that require a boat. Some require a non-motorized boat. Some require a motorboat. Some caches are on islands, some submerged.

 

Caching on the water is great fun for lots of us.

[Lurch77]

Thanks for the input everyone. This is definitely something I am going to consider. Maybe when i am done with school and have more free time to maintain it I will set one up.

[+michigansnorkelers]

GO FOR IT!!!!

 

Take a look at one of my favorite finds, and my greatest FTF too.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...81-8410d309f6e2

 

NINE miles of paddling to SEVEN islands!

 

And also notice the length of the logs.

 

People really enjoy extraordinary caches. Make yours fun.

[+sseegars]

I have four:

 

GC164KM

 

GC13XWD

 

GC15RBB

 

GC13X0X

 

I love doing water caches, but as you can see from the find counts there are only a few in my area that pursue them. But go for it! The ones who don't go looking fo caches like these miss some really great spots.

 

Doc

[+sseegars]

triple post sorry!

Edited April 30, 2008 by DoctorWho

[+sseegars]

ditto

Edited April 30, 2008 by DoctorWho

[+hairball45]

There are only a few near me, but I wanted one of them bad enough that my wife bought me an inflatable kayak for Father's Day last year. That was fun! Now there's another I have an eye on for when the water warms up a bit more. Might have to travel some for others. Do it.

[+StaticTank]

I placed on on an island that was situated such that you would be hard pressed to get to it by boat. No place to land your boat or grab something to steady yourself because of the fast water. The ideas was for people to have to fish with a magnet.

 

So how do they put it back??

[+KerBear]

we have a few caches that need boats around here. some on islands, some banks of a creek/river, some underwater. lots of variety if you got a boat to go get em!

[Guyute1210]

Has anyone ever hide a cache in a place such as an island on a lake or river? I considered it on one nearby that would require a canoe or something. It would be understandable that fewer would find it due to no access to a boat of some kind. But I wonder if most people, even those with a boat, would just write it off as too much trouble?

 

Another option, our river gets very shallow during the summer months. There are points that are no more than ankle deep. You can wade out to islands. Too much trouble? Would I be held liable for anyone hurt or drowing? Are there other reasons it would be a bad idea?

I own a boating multi cache, and i'm in the process of developing a couple more...I also have done quite a few. Go for it...the only drawback is that if it's late in the season (for those in the snowbelt) and it's marked as needs maintainance, it could go for quite a while until the spring thaw and good weather to get out there to maintain it.

[+briansnat]

I own about 5 caches that require a boat to get to and another half dozen that are along lake shores that require either long hikes or shorter boat rides (I call those my "By Boat or By Boot" series.

 

The non boat owners seem to like to wait for the lakes to freeze in the winter to get the caches though.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

Thanks for the input everyone. This is definitely something I am going to consider. Maybe when i am done with school and have more free time to maintain it I will set one up.

 

A couple of things to keep in mind...

 

When publishing the listing boat access only caches fall into the "requires special equipement and/or skills" category and thus are almost always rated a 5 for terrain. Personally, as an avid sea kayaker I think that provides an inflated rating. While someone without a boat won't be able to access most boat only caches if one has a boat most of them require much much less effort to get to than many land based caches with a rating greater than 3.

 

Since you're in Wisconsin there is a significant additional risk involved when searching for a "hydrocache" from late October until late spring; hypothermia. Due primarily to the proliferation of "recreational kayaks" there are a lot of casual kayakers out there that don't understand the risks of paddling during from fall to late spring. Every year I read more than one incident of someone going out when the air temps seem condusive to being on the water but have capsized into water that is still in the low 50's or colder and have died from hypothermia. More often than not, they're not even wearing a PFD, let along dressed for immersion in cold waters.

 

I have yet to put out a boat only accessible cache but when I do it the listing will include lots of verbiage about the danger of seeking the cache in off summer months and may even seasonally disable the cache to try and keep a geocacher with a boat from seeking it when the dangers of hypothermia are high.

[+Renegade Knight]

I placed on on an island that was situated such that you would be hard pressed to get to it by boat. No place to land your boat or grab something to steady yourself because of the fast water. The ideas was for people to have to fish with a magnet.

 

So how do they put it back??

 

You throw it back.

[+MM32]

I would like to have a bit more discussion on the terrain rating of 5 for boat required caches. I personally feel this is WAY over rated. Why does it matter what vehicle is used to get to the cache. Yes, it may limit some people from hunting it but it by no means makes it harder to get to. I feel using a car may be more dangerous than a boat at times. If it requires a plane is it a 5? When it gets iced in and I use the Snowmobile is it still a 5. I can also walk to it in the snow and ice, still a 5? I think it should be rated base on the difficulty by foot ONLY. Getting to the starting point should not count. Hey that's just my thought....... With that in mind I think I am going to go make my first water hide and rate it a 1/1. Never have to leave the boat, reach out and get it...... Why not??????????

[CoyoteRed]

I would like to have a bit more discussion on the terrain rating of 5 for boat required caches. I personally feel this is WAY over rated.

I agree.

 

Boats, 30' hank of rope, an adjustable wrench, etc. are all classified as "specialized gear." Why? Probably because it's not what the ordinary cacher carries. When I first read the "specialized gear" part of the rating system I thought it meant purpose built tools or gear that ones needs trained in order to use like SCUBA gear.

 

Because of the artificial elevation of the rating most 5/5 are actually easier than than many of caches rated in the 3's or 4's.

 

My personal preference would be to eliminate the mention "specialized gear" in the rating and have two additional attributes: "additional gear" and "extraordinary gear." One would be expected to carry "ordinary gear" like pen(cil)s, notebook, calculator, compass, multi tool, flashlight, etc. Additional gear would be gear that you generally leave in the truck unless you need it like climbing gear, boat, etc. Extraordinary gear would be the purpose built tools and equipment that requires training, again, like SCUBA.

 

But, what is done is done. There's little chance of it changing any time soon.

[+briansnat]

I would like to have a bit more discussion on the terrain rating of 5 for boat required caches. I personally feel this is WAY over rated. Why does it matter what vehicle is used to get to the cache. Yes, it may limit some people from hunting it but it by no means makes it harder to get to. I feel using a car may be more dangerous than a boat at times.

 

That's the way it's been from the nearly beginning. A requirement of specialized equipment and/or knowledge automatically means its 5 stars. The rating system was developed before we had attributes, so there needed to be some easy way to tell searchers they just couldn't walk out the door and find the cache.

 

There is some debate over exactly whhat "specialized equipment and knowledge" is. To me it's an item that the average geocacher is not likely to have along, or have ready access to, and something that requires a special skill or knowledge to use, that is beyond a common, every day skill/knowledge.

 

So to me specialized equipment would include:

 

canoe/kayak

climbing gear

skis/snowshoes

aircraft

SCUBA gear

 

It would not include:

 

flashlight

screwdriver

wrench

pole or stick

ladder

[Lurch77]

An interesting thread this has turned out to be. I am a seasoned canoeist (love my Old Town!), and would find a cache needing a canoe as not being very hard. But I can see it being that way for others.

 

If I ever do put a cache like this out, I think it will be a late spring to early fall seasonal only. I can see inexperienced people trying to walk across unsafe ice to get to it in the early and late winter months. I'm not going to risk that.

[+briansnat]

An interesting thread this has turned out to be. I am a seasoned canoeist (love my Old Town!), and would find a cache needing a canoe as not being very hard. But I can see it being that way for others.

 

Similarly, an expert rock climber might find a cache on the side of a cliff to be a piece of cake.

[+Dgwphotos]

An interesting thread this has turned out to be. I am a seasoned canoeist (love my Old Town!), and would find a cache needing a canoe as not being very hard. But I can see it being that way for others.

 

Similarly, an expert rock climber might find a cache on the side of a cliff to be a piece of cake.

 

Being afraid of heights, I certainly would not!