Diver Down: The Wreck of the Robert Gaskin Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

Canadianzombie: As is the rule with all my caches that go missing three or more times, I'm archiving this one. It was in a very high visablity area and if not put back properly was easy to spot. It had a good run and will open up a spot for someone else on Blockhouse.
Cheers
CZ

More
Hidden : 3/9/2010
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:



             Diver Down: 
     The Wreck of the Robert Gaskin
 Photobucket

Just east of Blockhouse Island at a depth of 65 feet lies the remains of the former two masted wooden schooner, Robert Gaskin. The ship was built by Charles W. Jenkings and was launched in Kingston, Ontario on April 21st, 1863. She was 132.6 feet long, 26.3 feet in beam and had a draft of 11.3 feet with a cargo capacity of 20,000 bushels.

In the latter days of her life, in 1889 the Gaskin was serving as a barge and platform for rasing another ship, the railway-car steam ferry the William Armstrong, which had sunk earlier on the American side of the international border near Morristown, New York.

On September 18, 1889, one of the steam filled pontoons, attached to the sunken Armstrong accidentally broke away from the ship on the bottom and suddenly shot upwards like a torpedo. It struck and punctured the bow of the Gaskin. The salvage vessel, ironically, came to rest on the bottom about 30 feet from the Armstrong. The work then focused of raising the Gaskin with pontoons. Unfortunately as it was being towed toward shore, it slipped to the bottom two more times. The William Armstrong was eventually raised, but The Robert Gaskin remained near shore, where it sank for a third and final time in November 23, 1889.

Now don't worry, you won't need to get wet for this cache, it's on dry land, but you'll see the connection to the The Robert Gaskin when you arrive at the site. There are many wreck in the St. Lawrence river, but none with as interesting a story as the Gaskin. The Gaskin was my second wreck dive ever, I'll never forget that day, it was so foggy, you couldn't see the water, we literally jumped into the fog and heard splashes knowing our group had hit the water. The zebra mussles hadn't invaded the St Lawrence River yet and the visibility that day was around 6-8 feet. The wreck sees thousands of divers a year, but has suffered horribly and is unfortunately a shell of it's former glory, the last time I dove her she looked nothing like the first. In any event, she continues to be a tourist destination for divers in the Brockville and the St. Lawrence.

The cache is a nano in a tremendously high traffic area, so please use stealth and replace the cache in it's proper place or like the Gaskin, it's days will be numbered. There is plenty of parking, but in the summer, this place is busy, again be wary of your surroundings. The cache is located on, or shall I say under, something relevant to the story of The Robert Gaskin.

Blockhouse Island is a great place to visit and relax in the summer or any season for that matter, it's a great spot to bring a picnic lunch and relax inbetween caches. There's great views of the river and boat traffic as well. In the near future there will also be a Tall Ships Marine Center close by, so by all means, come to Brockville and make a day of it.

As with all Canadianzombie caches, the most important part is to have fun and be safe.
Cheers
CZ

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Anab haqre gur fvta

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us