Privateers & Smugglers Traditional Cache
JoenGPS: New state regs... can't drive back any more. Rich in history and sorry to see it go.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The historic Batsto area, revisit the past! After heavy rains, bring boots or wait a day or so.
When you reach the cache location imagine being transported back to the 1750's. This area was a haven for smugglers and privateers who were avoiding the heavy tariffs of the British. Smugglers (which would usually encompass any colonist merchant ship doing foreign trade at that time) were very creative in avoiding the import duties. The ports in New York and Philadelphia were heavily patrolled which made the remote Mullica and the Forks the perfect spot to unload their cargo and avoid the tax. In March of 1776 the Continental Congress authorized Privateering. A privateer was usually a privately owned and armed boat which set out to harass, raid, and capture the goods of British Merchant ships. These bountys were brought up the river and stored at the Forks and usually auctioned off to the rich folks in Philadelphia who made there way by wagon using roads such as Quaker Bridge. If you stand on the east end of the peninsula and look ENE you will see Rabbit Island, and the Batsto River. Rabbit Island had a garrison built to store the bounty and was guarded by an infantry battalion and a battery of artillery. Looking ESE you will see the Mullica River and in front of you they merge. The Forks Inn Restaurant and boat landing (now closed) is visible straight ahead. Coming into the cache area was the Van Sant boat yard where most of the vessels were constructed for these adventures.
You are looking for a small container capable of holding small trade items. The cache has been resurrected (from the former Tom's Booty, another famous pirate) so you will find some sig-items and names in the log. It is in a different location and a new container. Depending on the season and the water level on the rivers, you may get slightly wet! 4WD is recommended although you can 2WD a portion of the way without much problem. It is a history rich area and is hard to imagine this trading center of wharves, villages, boatyards, and taverns have all been reclaimed by the Pines. Is there treasure still out there...? We're sure there is! A perfect area for a family hike.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Fgnl qel - jngpu gur gvqr!
Treasures
You'll collect a digital Treasure from one of these collections when you find and log this geocache:
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