+niknrich Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 (edited) Some of you who have been caching in the South Leicestershire area and the village of Croft may know of a cacher called EspritS3, or Robert, to give him his real name. His caches are legendary for their utter creativity and deviousness: up trees, in water, requiring an entire toolkit or home-made safe key to crack. We have done several of his caches and enjoyed all of them hugely, so we had a few on our watchlist to see what others thought of them. We were rather puzzled therefore to see that most of Robert's caches have been archived and the following note had been attached to the pages this week: "Bye Bye EspritS3. He Is Not With Us Anymore. I Hope You Found His Caches Both Novel & Entertaining. His caches maybe inplace for the next few days untill we have had time to collect them all in, if you want one last visit. We may place them in a big container and name it "Grab A Cache" so as you can reuse them. C.R." Does anyone know what has happened to him? We had the pleasure of meeting Robert in Croft one day and he seemed a really nice bloke, we sincerely hope he's ok and perhaps he's "reinventing himself" under a new identity. niknrich Edited May 24, 2008 by niknrich Link to comment
+steviep Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 I mailed him last night after reading that log, and recieved a reply 1st thing this morning, not sure if he wrote it but it does read like it came from him Link to comment
+niknrich Posted May 24, 2008 Author Share Posted May 24, 2008 I mailed him last night after reading that log, and recieved a reply 1st thing this morning, not sure if he wrote it but it does read like it came from him I know what you mean there - we thought the logs/notes sounded like him too, but didn't want to email his address in case something awful had happened and it distressed his family/friends while they were trying to tidy up his affairs. Working in a hospital I (Nik) do tend to think the worst when such situations occur! Perhaps we'll drop him a line. Anyone else know anything? Link to comment
+Malpas Wanderer Posted May 24, 2008 Share Posted May 24, 2008 I mailed him last night after reading that log, and recieved a reply 1st thing this morning, not sure if he wrote it but it does read like it came from him Was there no indication why in the mail you received? His caches were a little distant for me but "All Tooled Up" which I selected to place a particular TB was greatly enjoyed, hope he does continue. Link to comment
+milvus-milvus Posted May 25, 2008 Share Posted May 25, 2008 Would love to know what's going on - another one archived within only a month or so of being published... Hope all's well. Link to comment
+Happy Humphrey Posted May 26, 2008 Share Posted May 26, 2008 I noticed the note too: quite worrying. I remember going out of my way to visit Croft, just for Robert's caches. I didn't regret making the effort. Hopefully the note was just badly worded? HH (Toronto). Link to comment
+Maple Leaf Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 Noticed this on one of his caches GC18QVP ...... Surely, there must be someone local (Leics) that can help. May 22 by EspritS3 (95 found) Robert (Esprits3) is not with us anymore, please can someone take over the looking after and maintenance of this cache, or it will be deleted. Thanks C.R. May 24 by EspritS3 (95 found) Please can some one adopt this cache? ask all who have done it how novel it is! Please e-mail us soon Esprits3@aol.com Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted June 7, 2008 Share Posted June 7, 2008 I wonder if CR is Coombe Raiders. They have adopted some of Esprits3's caches... They are/were a well thought out series of caches, well worth the extra thought and effort to find them! Link to comment
+pklong Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Noticed this on one of his caches GC18QVP ...... Surely, there must be someone local (Leics) that can help. May 22 by EspritS3 (95 found) Robert (Esprits3) is not with us anymore, please can someone take over the looking after and maintenance of this cache, or it will be deleted. Thanks C.R. May 24 by EspritS3 (95 found) Please can some one adopt this cache? ask all who have done it how novel it is! Please e-mail us soon Esprits3@aol.com I could look after that one. Philip Link to comment
+careygang Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 I wonder if CR is Coombe Raiders. They have adopted some of Esprits3's caches... They are/were a well thought out series of caches, well worth the extra thought and effort to find them! I think you're right about CR, the following log appears on GC156FA, which has been unarchived.... May 27 by EspritS3 (95 found) As this cache is so far from Leicester and in good nick/ We've "Been Back" alot and back on 27th 5th 2008 we are going to leave it to run it's course. Hopefully a long life. Coombe 'erik88l-r' must know what is happening as they have been the reviewer that has unarchived some of these caches, but I'm sure there is some form of confidentiality clause in the Reviewers Terms of Reference/Job Description. Bit of a mysterious way of doing things... Link to comment
Deceangi Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 EspritS3 Archived his caches him self, but request Erik who was the Reviewer to publish them, to unarchive them to allow adoptions to go through. There has been a slight hitch to a couple of these due to a technical issue with the adopt a cache page. Hopefully the adoptions will soon go through. Link to comment
markandlynn Posted June 9, 2008 Share Posted June 9, 2008 He has quit geo caching. If your reading this Robert many thanks for your email we agree with your sentiments. Link to comment
+careygang Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 No need for a wake after all then... Nice to know he's OK, a bit of a strange way of going about it though. But at least he didn't do what so many others have done, Bog Off and leave ownerless caches scattered across the countryside. Link to comment
+niknrich Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 I'd almost forgotten I'd started this thread! Robert is alive and well, and we've been emailing him over the past couple of weeks. As previous posters said, he's decided to quit geocaching for various reasons, but the Coombe Raiders (CR) are helping him to re-distribute his caches. He was very touched to receive all the messages of concern/support, but maybe it's a reminder to us all that at the end of the day this is just a game and there's a real person/people behind the caching name. One man's boring micro is another's challenging hunt; one team's frustrating FTF-foiling puzzle is anothers' brain-teasing, Alzheimers-delaying evening of fun. We all like different aspects of the game, so there will always be caches some people don't like. That's not necessarily the fault of the owner and if a cache simply isn't one's cup of tea then remember: nobody made you do it! That's what the Ignore button is for. Most cachers spend considerable time and effort setting caches, and as we all know, even the simplest Tupperware-under-a-log hide takes a while to organise. Those who have done any of Robert's caches will know that he spends hours working on the challenges, and even the tiniest nanos are works of art. The reward for all of our efforts is to read the logs from people who've found the cache and share their experiences: surely one of the fundamentals of caching is to bring a little happiness to others by doing this? And conversely, an unnecessarily negative log for a cache you just didn't like is a bit of a slap in the face. I was reading a thread the other day on the "Back To Basics" caches - a great idea IMHO - but maybe it's time for a return to basic good manners in logs as well. As my mum would have said, "play nicely, or don't play at all"! Let's hope Robert has a change of heart and returns to entertain us with more of his genius caches. Link to comment
+Happy Humphrey Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 So it remains a mystery, but not a worry (and that's what really counts). A pity that a creative craftsman decides to retire (you can't really "quit" geocaching, there's nothing to quit). Link to comment
tonyth Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 So it remains a mystery, but not a worry (and that's what really counts). A pity that a creative craftsman decides to retire (you can't really "quit" geocaching, there's nothing to quit). If that is the case then i know how he feels, i had only done about two caches and decided to set up my own which i thought was very brave, set it up checked everything which consisted of a quiz to find the microcache which then gave the co-ordinates for the final cache, no problems. Couple of days later it had been sla**ed off massively by a seasoned campaigner who has tons of caches out there who had basically put a warning sign telling people to be wary of the cache. I sent him an email asking him to remove the message and explaining where the microcache was but nothing, the cache was visited the next day FTF and no problems reported and has now been found four times. The same person wrote critical messages about two of my friends caches and they have both emailed him and again no replies!! We checked out a few of his caches and he had mentioned that if anyone writes bad logs about his caches then he will delete them as it upsets him!!! Yes this is a game and people continue to find and create caches to provide enjoyment for tens of thousends of others, if someone has made a mistake then be constructive we all have dodgy gps signals occassionally and stop being high and mighty! One of the conspiracy theories doing the rounds was that said person has rung round other cachers telling them not to visit, i hope i am wrong. cache is 'living the dream' Link to comment
+rutson Posted September 10, 2008 Share Posted September 10, 2008 Having looked at your cache, I don't think it was slagged off. I feel that the DNF that was posted was fair comment, it SHOULD be a puzzle cache IMHO and the type should be changed. I would advise contacting a reviewer to do this for you. I note also that the "slagging off" has two smileys which along with the "thanks for the ... cache" doesn't seem like a slating at all. Link to comment
+Alibags Posted September 11, 2008 Share Posted September 11, 2008 Ooh er, not sure I like the sound of 'the fist bit' Link to comment
tonyth Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 (edited) Rutson thats bull8888, i set up a new cache this morning and its already been visited by three people which is the same amount thats visited my old cache which you are refering to, my beef about this is that it is amazing that when some oldtimer puts a warning on the comments in the log to be wary then suddenly it is blanked by everybody. When you try and ask him to remove it due to being unfair he doesnt even reply. Yes this is a game for everyone to enjoy but comments like that make you think whats the point!! Might as well disable my cache and create a new user name cause i have a feeling ive been blacklisted by his contacts!!! The cache has been visited by three people and they had no problem so dont see what his problem is... actually why i am bothered by this i have a dream job, a stunning missus and a beautiful daughter i earn shed loads as well so forget it life is toooooooooo short!! Edited September 13, 2008 by tonyth Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Sorry, your cache requires research on the internet -or a good knowledge of F1 racing. It's a Puzzle, not a Multi. If you are a paperless cacher, you don't always read the cache page, until 'on the hunt' for the cache. Being marked as a Multi, you would naturally think the clues are 'on the ground' at the listed co-ordinates. Being marked as a Puzzle alerts a paperless cacher, and other cachers, to the fact a little research may be required. That is what JollyJax was warning cachers about. Puzzle caches, and Multi's, often get fewer visitors than the Traditional caches. Link to comment
SlytherinAlex Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 ..actually why i am bothered by this i have a dream job, a stunning missus and a beautiful daughter i earn shed loads as well so forget it life is toooooooooo short!! Yes, but you still live in Rugby. Link to comment
+niknrich Posted September 14, 2008 Author Share Posted September 14, 2008 Interesting to see this thread has re-surfaced. We had contact from Robert a couple of months back and all's well. Those that know him will be happy to know he's safe and sound. However, it seems that this thread has somewhat drifted off-topic so please could the mods close it? Thanks. Link to comment
+drsolly Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 Sorry, your cache requires research on the internet -or a good knowledge of F1 racing. It's a Puzzle, not a Multi. If you are a paperless cacher, you don't always read the cache page, until 'on the hunt' for the cache. Being marked as a Multi, you would naturally think the clues are 'on the ground' at the listed co-ordinates. Being marked as a Puzzle alerts a paperless cacher, and other cachers, to the fact a little research may be required. That is what JollyJax was warning cachers about. Puzzle caches, and Multi's, often get fewer visitors than the Traditional caches. I don't read the cache page of each cache that I'm going to do before I set off. I might expect to do 20 caches in a day, and I'll read the cache page just as I'm about to start the cache. I rarely print out a cache page, I usually read the cache page on my PDA. Often, I'll be in the field and decide which cache to do next there and then - my plan for the day would be a starting cache, and a rough idea of what I'll do after that. When I'm out in the field, my PDA shows trads with red flags, multis with green and puzzles with blue. So if this cache is defined as a multi, I might drive to the start point, read the cache page, find that it needs info that I should have previously researched, say a rude word, and drive to another cache. If it's correctly categorised as a puzzle, then knowing that I'd be in that area, I'd have researched it before leaving home. So it is a good idea to categorise caches correctly. Please. Link to comment
Deceangi Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 As the OP has requested the topic closed, and also as it is drifting into a discussion of one persons caches I'm closing this topic. Deci Link to comment
+Stuey Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 I'm closing this topic. Oh no you didn't Link to comment
+webscouter. Posted September 14, 2008 Share Posted September 14, 2008 In after the lock. Link to comment
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