"Point Nemo" cache

[+carnyhunks]

I recently learned of "Point Nemo," which is the most remote location on the planet.

I wonder if anyone has thought of or has placed a cache here before.

The location is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so it would have to be a Wherigo.

Or, find an island close by to place a physical container 

[+Max and 99]

If it's a physical container, the CO needs to have a maintenance plan (vacation caches not allowed).

And if someone used their Virtual Cache reward there, they must have visited it in the last three months.

Unless there have been updates I'm not aware of.

But what a cool location!

[+Isonzo Karst]

It's not land , it's a spot that's furthest from any land  ~ the oceanic point of inaccessibility  :-)  by definition, there is no "island close by.  NOAA Point Nemo

 

 

Trying to shoehorn it into a cache design would be unrelated to hiding caches for people to find, or even virtual locations for people to visit - it's a  trophy location. (This is why the guidelines require that a cache owner have visited and used a gps device to generate coords for locations that are part of geocaches. )

[+carnyhunks]

3 minutes ago, Isonzo Karst said:

It's not land , it's a spot that's furthest from any land  ~ the oceanic point of inaccessibility  :-)  by definition, there is no "island close by.  NOAA Point Nemo

 

 

Trying to shoehorn it into a cache design would be unrelated to hiding caches for people to find, or even virtual locations for people to visit - it's a  trophy location. (This is why the guidelines require that a cache owner have visited and used a gps device to generate coords for locations that are part of geocaches. )

Well, at least one could theoretically hide a cache 2,688 km away from Point Nemo and claim those bragging rights 

[+Isonzo Karst]

 Back when antipode caches were still being published it *might* have been possible to have the Mystery posted coords on Nemo, and the cache in Newfoundland (its antipode).  The caches  with posted coords closest to Point Nemo are old antipode caches - ending in Denmark and the Czech Republic, and "placed in" those countries.

It looks like the closest physical cache is on the high point of Pitcairn Island.  

[+The Jester]

You could try a floating cache with a really long anchor cable... 

[+carnyhunks]

1 hour ago, The Jester said:

You could try a floating cache with a really long anchor cable... 

Find an anchor long enough, anything is possible.

Challenge accepted! 

I could make it a gadget cache too while I'm at it 

[+captnemo]

Been there many times in my submarine.  

[+The Jester]

22 hours ago, carnyhunks said:

Find an anchor long enough, anything is possible.

Challenge accepted! 

I could make it a gadget cache too while I'm at it 

If you want to really make it a challenge, go for a micro ... and paint it blue...

[+carnyhunks]

1 hour ago, The Jester said:

If you want to really make it a challenge, go for a micro ... and paint it blue...

Talk about an EVIL hide! 

I read in the news about the astronaut who dove down to the deepest accessible area on the ocean floor.

Who knows, perhaps our diving technology will improve and sunken shipwrecks will become Wherigos.

A really neat Earthcache would be the volcanic vents on the ocean floor.

I couldn't imagine placing physical containers in shipwrecks, WAY too dangerous/unethical in some cases.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

15 hours ago, carnyhunks said:

Talk about an EVIL hide! 

I read in the news about the astronaut who dove down to the deepest accessible area on the ocean floor.

Who knows, perhaps our diving technology will improve and sunken shipwrecks will become Wherigos.

A really neat Earthcache would be the volcanic vents on the ocean floor.

I couldn't imagine placing physical containers in shipwrecks, WAY too dangerous/unethical in some cases.

 

Like this one?

 

Published in 2002 and still no finds.  Apparently CaptNemo's submarine doensn't go everywhere.

[+frostengel]

33 minutes ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

Like this one?

 

This cache is as useless as the cache on the ISS is. They don't get found but they may be used as advertisment "for what geocaching is" (haha!).

I have so often read promotions by Groundspeak telling that there is even a geocache in space - but they never told that it is complete nonsense

So why not? Go to "point Nemo" by boat, throw  out a PETling. List it as diving cache. Tell Groundspeak to use it in there promotions. Nothing else will happen here.

 

Everything like that has nothing to do with "normal geocaching" but who cares?

[+NYPaddleCacher]

2 hours ago, frostengel said:

 

This cache is as useless as the cache on the ISS is. They don't get found but they may be used as advertisment "for what geocaching is" (haha!).

I have so often read promotions by Groundspeak telling that there is even a geocache in space - but they never told that it is complete nonsense

So why not? Go to "point Nemo" by boat, throw  out a PETling. List it as diving cache. Tell Groundspeak to use it in there promotions. Nothing else will happen here.

 

Everything like that has nothing to do with "normal geocaching" but who cares?

 

I completely agree with you.  I consider the Rainbow Hydrothermal Vents and ISS cache and nothing more than a novelty (and coincidentally from the same CO) that seem more like "I am rich so look what I can do" than an attempt to create an actual geocache that others can find.  Geocaching may be many different things to different people but making it into a contest to see who can create a cache that nobody will ever find benefits no one.

[+The Leprechauns]

Fortunately there are 3,215,203 other geocaches to find.  I spend a lot of my time thinking about them, and none of my time thinking about the ISS, Rainbow Hydrothermal Vents, or Point Nemo.

[+thebruce0]

On the flipside, they are goals. They are bucket list achievements that if someone is able to complete it, well then they've found it. I don't see how that's much different that extreme caches or special knowledge caches that the vast majority of people can't do or get to. It's just the demographic for those two are razor thin.   Doesn't bother or affect me that they exist, but they sort of provide a top to bottom boundary on the hobby. They give us some context to what can theorietically be done, even if only due to an exception. I like that they exist. I'll never 'Find' them, but they keep my imagination and creativity lifted. Geocaching isn't just LPCs and film cans. It can be on the ISS or deep under the ocean - imagine where else they could be?

[+cerberus1]

2 minutes ago, thebruce0 said:

On the flipside, they are goals. They are bucket list achievements that if someone is able to complete it, well then they've found it.

 

Yep.

Someday the planets will align perfectly, I'll win the power ball, Elon Musk will already have "visitors in space" and I'm signin' that baby.    

 

Edited June 12, 2020 by cerberus1

[+frostengel]

1 hour ago, The Leprechauns said:

Fortunately there are 3,215,203 other geocaches to find.  I spend a lot of my time thinking about them, and none of my time thinking about the ISS, Rainbow Hydrothermal Vents, or Point Nemo.

 

I don't spend sleepless nights over any of these "caches" either - but it is the topic here. :-)

 

I can translate my last post into one word as answer to the original poster:

 

On 6/10/2020 at 11:44 AM, carnyhunks said:

I wonder if anyone has thought of or has placed a cache here before.

 

Why (should you do this)?

[+TmdAndGG]

1 hour ago, frostengel said:

 

On 6/10/2020 at 5:44 AM, carnyhunks said:

I wonder if anyone has thought of or has placed a cache here before.

 

Why (should you do this)?

It's not OK to wonder things?

I'm 99.99% percent sure this idea is never gonna happen, so no need to get worked up about it

Edited June 12, 2020 by TmdAndGG

[+NYPaddleCacher]

3 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

On the flipside, they are goals. They are bucket list achievements that if someone is able to complete it, well then they've found it. I don't see how that's much different that extreme caches or special knowledge caches that the vast majority of people can't do or get to. It's just the demographic for those two are razor thin.   Doesn't bother or affect me that they exist, but they sort of provide a top to bottom boundary on the hobby. They give us some context to what can theorietically be done, even if only due to an exception. I like that they exist. I'll never 'Find' them, but they keep my imagination and creativity lifted. Geocaching isn't just LPCs and film cans. It can be on the ISS or deep under the ocean - imagine where else they could be?

 

What's the point of a goal if it's essentially unachievable?   Nobody has even attempted the Rainbow Hydrathermal cache in 18 years.   There is a rather broad grey area between a geocache that most likely will never be found (and was only hidden because the CO is  billionaire) and LPCs that include some  in remote or extreme locations (e.g. Erta Ale Volcano) that *have* been found that are more realistic as examples of what is achievable as a geocache.   

[+frostengel]

23 minutes ago, TmdAndGG said:

It's not OK to wonder things?

 

Haha, sorry! my English may be to bad. :-)

The why didn't relate to your wondering but to putting a geocache there. Why should I put a geocache which will never be found or which will be found once every ten year? Just to show others what a great guy I am?

[+thebruce0]

On 6/12/2020 at 2:19 PM, NYPaddleCacher said:

What's the point of a goal if it's essentially unachievable?   Nobody has even attempted the Rainbow Hydrathermal cache in 18 years.   There is a rather broad grey area between a geocache that most likely will never be found (and was only hidden because the CO is  billionaire) and LPCs that include some  in remote or extreme locations (e.g. Erta Ale Volcano) that *have* been found that are more realistic as examples of what is achievable as a geocache. 

I know I'm almost certainly not going to get there. Doesn't mean it can't be a goal. It's more like... I know it's out there; I know it's doable, even if not by me, and helps to broaden my horizons in my understanding of geocaching and what can be done. I'm not calling for the removal of any other geocache I don't think I'll ever be able to get to. I'm sure I'll never climb Everest. Or visit South Korea. Or the northernmost geocache in Russia. But why would I complain that they exist? To me, the ISS and Vents are more caches like that. But the fact they're there helps, for me, to define geocaching. I won't advocate for their removal.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

16 hours ago, thebruce0 said:

I know I'm almost certainly not going to get there. Doesn't mean it can't be a goal. It's more like... I know it's out there; I know it's doable, even if not by me, and helps to broaden my horizons in my understanding of geocaching and what can be done. I'm not calling for the removal of any other geocache I don't think I'll ever be able to get to. I'm sure I'll never climb Everest. Or visit South Korea. Or the northernmost geocache in Russia. But why would I complain that they exist? To me, the ISS and Vents are more caches like that. But the fact they're there helps, for me, to define geocaching. I won't advocate for their removal.

 

I haven't called for their removal.  I just think that they're just a novelty that Groundspeak has used for promotional purposes.  Everest may be unachievable for most, and even the northern most point in Russia is a place that very few ever visit but South Korea?   South Korea has a pretty vibrant geocaching community and even a bunch of power trails.  It has an international airport served by many major airlines.  Heck, there's even a direct flight to Seoul from Toronto on Air Canada, that anyone with a passport and $1000 (round trip) can get on.  Getting on the ISS or to the bottom of the pacific ocean aren't even in the same league.   Flying to South Korea is a bit easier than becoming an astronaut or a billionaire.  Comparing them is absurd.  

[+baer2006]

On 6/12/2020 at 8:19 PM, NYPaddleCacher said:

... that include some  in remote or extreme locations (e.g. Erta Ale Volcano) that *have* been found that are more realistic as examples of what is achievable as a geocache.

The cache you linked is a text book example why it is not realistic to place a physical(!) cache at such extreme locations. The majority of "finds" are either throwdowns or "found it = didn't find it" type of virtual logs.

OTOH, a location like that would make an absolutely terrific virtual cache. Unfortunately, that's most likely never going to happen...

[+NYPaddleCacher]

17 hours ago, baer2006 said:

The cache you linked is a text book example why it is not realistic to place a physical(!) cache at such extreme locations. The majority of "finds" are either throwdowns or "found it = didn't find it" type of virtual logs.

OTOH, a location like that would make an absolutely terrific virtual cache. Unfortunately, that's most likely never going to happen...

It's been awhile since I looked at the listing for that cache.  Obviously things have changed since it was placed in 2002.  When I first became aware of it there were only a handful of found it logs.  I've also been in a situation where I was prevented from accessing a cache by security prevented me from accessing a cache due to safety issues.  It was in Masai Mara in Kenya, the only cache I got anywhere close to (about 30 feet) on a 2.5 day safari.  The armed guards said that it wasn't safe due to crocs and hippos in the water near the cache but he would accompany me when we drove back through the area.  We didn't stop on the say back.   I logged a DNF.

[+thebruce0]

22 hours ago, NYPaddleCacher said:

Flying to South Korea is a bit easier than becoming an astronaut or a billionaire.  Comparing them is absurd.  

Well then you kind of missed the point.

Or maybe you got it perfectly. Hard to tell.

Maybe flying to South Korea is not an absurd notion to you, but it is to someone else. Maybe visiting the northernmost point of Russia, or visiting Antarctica is absurd to someone, but not to someone else. Maybe even the ISS. Or the vents. Absurdity is arbitrary. So personally I don't care how "absurd" something may seem. If it's within the bounds of the hobby (or defines the bounds), then it's fair game. Relatively speaking, sure, it's a novelty. I won't argue that. But is novelty a Bad Thing? I would argue no.  If you would argue yes, then we are an impasse.

[+Goldenwattle]

On 6/12/2020 at 6:06 AM, carnyhunks said:

perhaps our diving technology will improve and sunken shipwrecks will become Wherigos.

Can satellites be 'seen' from that depth?

[+TmdAndGG]

59 minutes ago, Goldenwattle said:

Can satellites be 'seen' from that depth?

You take the boat to that spot, open up the whatever Wherigo app, look at the question, gear up, dive down, get the answer, go back up, submit the answer, then go to the next location! 

[+The Jester]

4 hours ago, Goldenwattle said:

Can satellites be 'seen' from that depth?

Nope, even about an inch of water will block the GPS signal.  One of the reasons heavy tree cover sometimes messes the signal, too much water (leaves, needles, branches, etc.) in the way.

[+The Jester]

3 hours ago, TmdAndGG said:

You take the boat to that spot, open up the whatever Wherigo app, look at the question, gear up, dive down, get the answer, go back up, submit the answer, then go to the next location! 

The "fun" of marking a location comes from trying to make sure your place on the surface is right above the point on the sea floor.  It's easy to drift when going up or down.  And the deeper you go the less accuracy.

[+Goldenwattle]

8 hours ago, TmdAndGG said:

You take the boat to that spot, open up the whatever Wherigo app, look at the question, gear up, dive down, get the answer, go back up, submit the answer, then go to the next location! 

Yes, up and down several kms each time :)