Paddling and Caching

[kayakwolf]

I am an avid kayaker and canoe when I have to. I am also an avid camper. Recently i have discovered geocaching. It gives me soemthing to do when I can't get on the water and can't travel very far. I am an explorer by nature so geocaching is a great thing for me. It also helps me keep my navigation skills sharp. The ones I learned in the National Guard as an infantryman/motarman. I always have enjoyed navigation.

 

Within the last 8 years of my life I rediscovered something else I enjoy; being on, in or near the water. So far I haven't found any cache listings that require access by canoe or kayak. I found one that is on an island in a small lake that can be accessed by any kind of boat. I am thinking of introducing this as a new facet to geocaching. What makes this challenging is observing boating safety while looking for a cache. What makes this excitng is the adventures there may be in locating caches along rivers and lakeshores. I would like to set up a course with a multicache that is accessible by canoe or kayak or small watercraft.

 

We can get creative with geocaching as long as we stay safe and respect the rights of others.

[+Bunganator]

This is by no means a new facet of caching. If you go to the right place (which is almost everywhere) you will find a lot of boating caches. You are of course not responsible for the safety (or possible lack of) of others. You dont make anyone go after any caches. There is another thread that deals with caching and boating as well.

 

Note: This also doesn't seem like the right forum

 

Edit added note

Edited May 4, 2008 by Bunganator

[+Mopar]

Nope, not new at all. There are something like 40-60 of those type of caches just here in CT.

There are several ways to seach for them. One way to start is to look at terrain 5 caches. Terrain 5 just means special equiptment needed (such as a boat). Of course you will also get other types of caches just using that. If you become a premium member you can also search for caches that have the "boat required" attribute. Lastly, it's possible someone already has a bookmark list like this one for Connecticut.

[+Mopar]

Assuming you live in the area of your first cache find, it looks like you have some to try for.

There is a cacher in your area named BAT1800 who appears to have a series of caches named "cache and release" that require a small boat to reach. If you want to travel a little further (40-50 miles) there are a few more in WI.

[Keystone]

Since this thread doesn't involve a Geocaching.com Web Site bug report or feature request, I am moving it to the Geocaching Topics forum for general discussion.

[+joranda]

I have a kayak too. I have hunted caches with it and also placed some with it too. It's enjoyable to say the least.

[+briansnat]

I have a bookmark list of paddle caches in NJ, eastern PA and LI. It's up to 34 now and I'm sure I'm missing a lot more. Not all are paddle only, but all are paddle friendly, meaning that they are along a river bank or lake shore.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I have a bookmark list of paddle caches in NJ, eastern PA and LI. It's up to 34 now and I'm sure I'm missing a lot more. Not all are paddle only, but all are paddle friendly, meaning that they are along a river bank or lake shore.

 

I created a similar list for my area and also included many caches which, while accessible without a boat are also very accessible when approached from the water.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

This is by no means a new facet of caching. If you go to the right place (which is almost everywhere) you will find a lot of boating caches. You are of course not responsible for the safety (or possible lack of) of others. You dont make anyone go after any caches.

 

While that is technically true, how would you (the general you) feel if you placed a cache in a location which was potentially dangerous and someone died as a result of seeking the cache.

 

I applaud the O.P's suggestion of not just placing a boat accessible cache, but placing one that promotes boating safety. With the proliferation of "recreational kayaks" (usually 9-12' long, 26-30" wide) there are too many people on the water with marginal boat handling skills in conditions which could kill them if something went wrong. I don't know how many times I've seen new kayaks out on the water in early March or April on the first warm weekend and water temperatures barely over 40 degrees. More often than not they're not wearing a PFD, and are wearing a t-shirt and jeans. A capsize in water that cold a few hundred feet from shore could easily be fatal.

 

When placing cache on the edge of cliff it's pretty obvious where the danger lies and most would be able to access the risk accurately. However, many that go out in boats during conditions that could be equally fatal probably don't even realize the risk they are taking.

[+Aye-Ch]

In Wisconsin mamma cat has placed the Eagles and Islands series, all accessed by a boat of some kind. Not having a boat I haven't been to any of these, but maybe you want to look at them.

[+hydnsek]

We have a wide variety of paddle caches on lakes and rivers here in western Washington. Some have been around a while, others are new. TeamIDFC has made a name for themselves in recent months by placing paddle caches on every body of water they can kayak on. The OP mentioned a paddle multi - here's one of theirs I recently did: Bellevue has a Phantom paddle cache?