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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The Albertina cache is a two stage multi cache that will bring you to two beautiful locations. We encourage you to park your car near the first stage and walk to the final cache - plenty of street parking available at Stage 1. We recommend you walk between stages as it is a terrific stroll. Plan on 45 minutes to an hour round trip with puzzle solving.
The Albertina will bring you to one of our favorite spots in the United States. A lovely vista of the Navesink river with a rich history. This cache is not a difficult find and is prone to frequent visitors so please be discreet as you search. The terrain is easy and this is a great cache for children and adults. Finding the cache might be a bit more difficult in a very high tide, but it is certainly still manageable without getting your feet wet. Please note that there is no reason to go on private property for this cache. The dock and the surrounding beach are part of the State Green Acres program.
Please park near the first stage coordinates and look for the 911 memorial in the western section of Fair Haven's Memorial Park. Here you will find a beautiful flowering pot surrounded by plantings and some stonework. The surrounding stones have 8 words carved into the ring. The one word beginning with the letter L will help you decode the coordinates for the final cache. Turn the letters in this word into numbers using the simple code Z=1 Y=2 etc. You are then ready to do some simple math (you might want to bring a calculator) to find the co-ordinates of the final cache as follows:
N
2nd letter+4th letter = ** degrees
1st letter+6th letter = **
3rd letter+4th letter+7th letter =.***
W
(3rd letter x 7th letter) + 4th letter + 7th letter = *** degrees
5th letter - 6th letter = **
(3rd letter x 1st letter) - (4th letter x 7th letter) -1st letter = .***
We encourage you to take pictures and post them in the gallery.
Here is a bit of history on the Albertina, Fair Haven, and the dock:
The Albertina, sister to the SeaBird, built in 1882, 165 feet, the 2nd prominent Merchant Steamboat Company craft, was something of a town icon. Included in the Fair Haven town seal in the 1962 Golden Jubilee.
The special character of present day Fair Haven is rooted in its heritage as a small community closely linked to the Navesink River.
Fair Haven is believed to have been seasonally inhabited by native Indians prior to the coming of European settlers in the 1660's, but little is known of those early days. It's recorded history begins in the early 19th century when the Borough was part of then extensive Shrewsbury Township.
The town's first permanent dwelling was built by Jeremiah Chandler in 1816 on the riverbank near the foot of what is now Fair Haven Road. The river provided an economic base for a growing community. By 1850, "Chandler's Dock" had been erected on a site adjacent to the present town dock. Steamboats on the New York-Red Bank run made regular stops. They transported oysters and other river harvest to the city. During the latter years of the 19th and early part of the 20th centuries, boats such as the "Seabird" and "Albertina" (depicted on the Borough seal) continued that trade and brought numerous summer visitors, many of whom were famous vaudevillians. Nearby boarding houses and the old VanTine and Atlantic Hotels catered to this clientele. The vaudevillians organized the Player's Club, whose site now serves as home to the Shrewsbury River Yacht Club.
In the 1850's, Charles Williams, a free black person, built his home at the foot of DeNormandie Avenue. The structure is occupied today by his descendants, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited houses in the Borough.
A free black community had become established in town prior to the Civil War. Fisk Chapel, constructed in 1888, successor to several prior structures, served as the community's church and social center. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and now is used as a Borough meeting hall.
The mid-19th century witnessed construction of many houses along the road leading to Chandler's Dock. Now called Fair Haven Road, the street was then the heart of town. At different times it has been known as "Clam Shell Road", "VanTine Street", and "Pearl Street". The Hendrickson, Little, and other Fair Haven families were among the first to establish homes on the street. They were later joined, among others, by J.S. Throckmorton, captain of the "Albertina". Contemporaneously, adjoining streets (Clay, DeNormandie, and Gillespie) and adjacent parts of current day River Road were built up. In recognition of the many 19th century structures still found there, this part of town has become popularly known as the "Old Village".
By the late 1800's, development of the Old Village had been largely completed. Later years would witness at least two other periods of major building in town, but throughout the past century, the original Old Village has remained remarkably unchanged, and it retains today a great deal of its 19th century appearance and atmosphere. the Old Village is now contained in an Historic District.
Fair Haven remained a part of Shrewsbury Township until March 28, 1912, when it incorporated as a borough by Act of the New Jersey State Legislature.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[final cache spoiler] n jnyx ba gur ornpu ybbxvat sbe ubyybjrq cvyvat