I feel so stupid

[+jasondulac]

Today was a crazy day I had a new cache published and Archived in the same day,

 

Yesterday I found a nice spot near Lake Ontario to hide a cache with out thinking I hid one a little to close to the water while also not rellizing it was low tide. The cache got published this morning right after one person found it then sent me this email

 

Found the rocks and cement block but no cache

checked the area a little better and found the cache floating in the water, retrieved it and left it under the tree roots to the right of which I think was the original location,

My GPS was about 8 meters from where it said original location was. You might want to check on it. Thanks again for the FTF prize.

contents are still dry and in good shape.

 

So once I read the email my brother and I were down there in about a hour When we got there I realize there were huge waves that flooded the cache area and from what looked like it washed the cache away and after me and my brother doged geting hit from at least 50 or 60 12 foot waves we figured the cache is some were in lake ontario.

 

So I guess I realized it's beter to do some reasearch before hiding a cahe

Sorry if I bored any body I just had to vent If anybody else has any stories about caches gone wrong please share

[+sheppardnik]

Bummer!

 

On the plus side, at least it had one find... better luck next time!

[+VirginiaGator]

That was a good lesson learned!

 

The last cache I hid had me thinking a bit. I placed it on a rainy day so was lucky enough to see the nearby ditch with water in it. And behind a bunch of pines it was a low lying area and flat...and water accumulated on it. Next level up the hill were holly trees. Rats! I really wanted a pine tree for this being the branches were lower and would cover it better. But I was afraid of the cache floating or at least sitting in a huge puddle if it rained hard enough. So it's under the holly tree.

[+VirginiaGator]

That was a good lesson learned!

 

The last cache I hid had me thinking a bit. I placed it on a rainy day so was lucky enough to see the nearby ditch with water in it. And behind a bunch of pines it was a low lying area and flat...and water accumulated on it. Next level up the hill were holly trees. Rats! I really wanted a pine tree for this being the branches were lower and would cover it better. But I was afraid of the cache floating or at least sitting in a huge puddle if it rained hard enough. So it's under the holly tree.

[+jasondulac]

That was a good lesson learned!

 

The last cache I hid had me thinking a bit. I placed it on a rainy day so was lucky enough to see the nearby ditch with water in it. And behind a bunch of pines it was a low lying area and flat...and water accumulated on it. Next level up the hill were holly trees. Rats! I really wanted a pine tree for this being the branches were lower and would cover it better. But I was afraid of the cache floating or at least sitting in a huge puddle if it rained hard enough. So it's under the holly tree.

 

Your sure right it was a good lesson learned. I realize now it's beter to research were your gona hide a cache rather then hidding it in the first place you see. The thing is usally do researche were I hid caches I guess this time the spot that looked great was to good to be true.

[+Mick-n-Nick]

I'm a newbie so I may be wrong, but you couldn't you just hide the cache more inland and change the coordinates? That way it wouldn't have to be archived?

[jholly]

Thanks for the story. I enjoyed it and it is such a refreshing break from the drama bombs. Now that it archived it is bit late, but yes, if you move it less the 500 feet or so you can update the co-ordinates for a new location. Better luck on the next one, and check the tide tables

 

Jim

[7rxc]

Today was a crazy day I had a new cache published and Archived in the same day,

 

Found the rocks and cement block but no cache

checked the area a little better and found the cache floating in the water, retrieved it and left it under the tree roots to the right of which I think was the original location,

My GPS was about 8 meters from where it said original location was. You might want to check on it. Thanks again for the FTF prize.

contents are still dry and in good shape.

 

So once I read the email my brother and I were down there in about a hour When we got there I realize there were huge waves that flooded the cache area and from what looked like it washed the cache away and after me and my brother doged geting hit from at least 50 or 60 12 foot waves we figured the cache is some were in lake ontario.

So I guess I realized it's beter to do some reasearch before hiding a cahe

Sorry if I bored any body I just had to vent If anybody else has any stories about caches gone wrong please share

 

Sorry to hear about this cache. On the other hand it sounds as if you had plenty of experience with that site and may be able to make it work again. I think you might be able to unarchive it, unless you meant disabled. I wouldn't give up on the cache itself either. Your posted 'email' indicated it was capable of floating and staying dry for at least a while. Chances are it may wash up somewhere and be found again by someone. You did ID it well, didn't you? You might be able to get some of the local cachers to watch for it if this was moved over to the Canada section or a request made there.

 

Good luck anyway.

 

Doug

[+Renegade Knight]

That was a good lesson learned!

...

 

True that. Some lessons are only learned by getting out there and placing a cache.

[+The Blorenges]

Good story! You had an unintentional moving cache and didn't realise it until too late

 

There have been a few stories of geocaches that have been washed from their hiding places by tides or floods and then get found later, a few miles away, so it may yet re-appear.

 

MrsB

[Mr.Yuck]

Good story! You had an unintentional moving cache and didn't realise it until too late

 

There have been a few stories of geocaches that have been washed from their hiding places by tides or floods and then get found later, a few miles away, so it may yet re-appear.

 

MrsB

 

Yes!!! I'm quite certain a Michigan cache ended up in Wisconsin, or vice-versa, after traveling across Lake Michigan. I'd have to look it up.

 

I was going to be obnoxious and tell the OP there are no tides in the Great Lakes, but a Google search shows they are large enough to have very small, usually undetectable, tidal water changes.

[7rxc]

Yes!!! I'm quite certain a Michigan cache ended up in Wisconsin, or vice-versa, after traveling across Lake Michigan. I'd have to look it up.

 

I was going to be obnoxious and tell the OP there are no tides in the Great Lakes, but a Google search shows they are large enough to have very small, usually undetectable, tidal water changes.

 

The noticeable 'tidal' effects, are known as seitches [sic]. In large lakes they are caused by a couple of possibilities. One being wind, the friction of wind on water can push water to the leeward end of the lake. Raising the level there and reducing it at the windward. Closely related, is barometric pressure, (this actually is the reason the wind is blowing). A high pressure region at one end of a large lake (any of the Great Lakes eg) and a low at the other end, even when no wind exists, can cause the whole mass of water to shift toward the low pressure end. The effect is similar to what happens in a bathtub, and the effect of a series of highs and lows can cause the water to slosh back and forth from one end to the other for quite a while. It is not a tide however, but it can and does create water level changes and currents to flow.

 

BTW If I were jasondulac I think I'd be searching to the west of the site. Even in that little pond beside the marina. Any big waves of the type he described wouldn't have been coming from the west, maybe south and not from the north east... That's just a guess, but that was home waters for a long time. There is a culvert to the pond as well. I don't think wind would have to much effect, but I don't know what the bouyancy of the container would have been at the time (still sealed of course). If it was up in the wind, yes, but many things float close to water level. Anyone know what the wind was actually doing at that time? Actual wave direction?

 

Another mystery to ponder. Like what happened to my Spring?

Doug

[Mr.Yuck]

Yes!!! I'm quite certain a Michigan cache ended up in Wisconsin, or vice-versa, after traveling across Lake Michigan. I'd have to look it up.

 

I was going to be obnoxious and tell the OP there are no tides in the Great Lakes, but a Google search shows they are large enough to have very small, usually undetectable, tidal water changes.

 

The noticeable 'tidal' effects, are known as seitches [sic]. In large lakes they are caused by a couple of possibilities. One being wind, the friction of wind on water can push water to the leeward end of the lake. Raising the level there and reducing it at the windward. Closely related, is barometric pressure, (this actually is the reason the wind is blowing). A high pressure region at one end of a large lake (any of the Great Lakes eg) and a low at the other end, even when no wind exists, can cause the whole mass of water to shift toward the low pressure end. The effect is similar to what happens in a bathtub, and the effect of a series of highs and lows can cause the water to slosh back and forth from one end to the other for quite a while. It is not a tide however, but it can and does create water level changes and currents to flow.

 

BTW If I were jasondulac I think I'd be searching to the west of the site. Even in that little pond beside the marina. Any big waves of the type he described wouldn't have been coming from the west, maybe south and not from the north east... That's just a guess, but that was home waters for a long time. There is a culvert to the pond as well. I don't think wind would have to much effect, but I don't know what the bouyancy of the container would have been at the time (still sealed of course). If it was up in the wind, yes, but many things float close to water level. Anyone know what the wind was actually doing at that time? Actual wave direction?

 

Another mystery to ponder. Like what happened to my Spring?

Doug

 

That's very interesting. To you and me at least, probably no one else cares. Yes, Lake Erie is well-known for having the "bathtub effect" with the water sometimes pushed on one end to Buffalo. And probably Toledo sometimes in the other direction.

[GOF and Bacall]

Usually to the Buffalo end. It is the same prevailing wind direction that gives us the lake effect snows in the winter months.

[7rxc]

 

That's very interesting. To you and me at least, probably no one else cares. Yes, Lake Erie is well-known for having the "bathtub effect" with the water sometimes pushed on one end to Buffalo. And probably Toledo sometimes in the other direction.

 

jasondulac should file it away for reference... IF it was a storm strength low pressure there the water can pile up considerably. Something to plan for his next attempt. Same thing for wave heights and direction. I'm not sure if the marina there keeps any record at all, but they probably had good research before they built the seawall (big lakewall??). One can take a quick look at Google maps and see where the BIG waves could come from. They would be limited to swells if from certain directions, perhaps with smaller waves on top for sure. But big breakers take time and space to build up. Biggest I ever experienced for sure, was over twenty feet from trough to crest. I know that because I was in a boat in the trough and the wave totally immersed the bow of the wreck we were diving which stood 20 feet clear of the water on a calm day.

I suspect it's probably gone these days, or collapsed.

 

Anyway, the most likely waves would be from SE to NW if they were Big. Which is why I would look over that way. If the wind was strong, he might look inland a bit as well.

 

To Gof and bacalll... We keep a battery of large fans near Cowley AB to keep those snow storms headed your way... They are on high right now! Many inches of Spring this morning...

 

Doug

[+Juicepig]

 

The noticeable 'tidal' effects, are known as seitches [sic]. In large lakes they are caused by a couple of possibilities. One being wind, the friction of wind on water can push water to the leeward end of the lake. Raising the level there and reducing it at the windward. Closely related, is barometric pressure, (this actually is the reason the wind is blowing). A high pressure region at one end of a large lake (any of the Great Lakes eg) and a low at the other end, even when no wind exists, can cause the whole mass of water to shift toward the low pressure end. The effect is similar to what happens in a bathtub, and the effect of a series of highs and lows can cause the water to slosh back and forth from one end to the other for quite a while. It is not a tide however, but it can and does create water level changes and currents to flow.

 

aka "waves"

 

Great lakes also have large swells of ice during winter months. I too have fallen fool to the surgance of spring. I figure my cache is likely half way to europe by know, too bad i didn't have a travel bug in there

[GOF and Bacall]

 

To Gof and bacalll... We keep a battery of large fans near Cowley AB to keep those snow storms headed your way... They are on high right now! Many inches of Spring this morning...

 

Doug

 

Hey Doug,

 

Be warned. We have installed a few big fans of our own in an attempt to counter yours.

The old Bethlehem Steel site in Lackawanna.

 

 

Duane

[+Rev Mike]

Everything I know about tides I learned while on a cache hunt that went a bit wrong.