St. Aubin - A beautiful view of the harbour Mystery Cache
St. Aubin - A beautiful view of the harbour
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(small)
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
This is a cache in the lovely town of St. Aubin located on the bay with the same name on the island of Jersey.
Jersey
Probably 3000 to 5000 year BC Jersey became an island. Nowadays Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is the largest of the five Channel Islands. Jersey is a British Crown Dependency (more information on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Crown_Dependencies), which means that the British Government is responsible for defence and international representation. It is not and has never been part of the United Kingdom and it has an international identity separate from that of the UK.
St. Aubin
St. Aubin, a little town in the parish of St. Brelade, is located on the western end of the bay with the same name. It is home to the Parish hall, which is in the former railway station.
In the 16th century, St. Aubin was a busy port with a lot of fishing and trading activity. In the mid 16th century the prolific fish stocks off the coast of Newfoundland was discovered. A lot a Jersey fisherman crossed the North Atlantic to bring home tons of fish. During the next century more and more Jersey and Guernsey fishing companies ventured into the waters surrounding Newfoundland in the search for cod. More than 450 family names of Jersey and Guernsey families can still be found on and around Newfoundland. For more information see the stone located close to the alternative parking area.
Around 1540's St Aubin's fort is build to protect the harbour.
In the 1600's and 1700's St. Aubin is a wealthy little town. The wealth was apart from fishing, also coming from merchandise and privateering. Privateering is a sort of legalised piracy.
One last St. Aubin fact. Who was St. Aubin? That is not real clear. It might have been the Bishop of Angers, who died in the year 550, but that is not for sure so this remains a bit of a mystery.
The Building - A beautiful view of the harbour
The cache is located near a building that originally was built in 1709. At that time St. Aubin looked a lot different than in the present time. The building was actually right at the water front, in stead of 150 feet or 50 meters it is from the waterfront in the present day.
The house has a long history of several owners who used it as a home and a boarding house. The line of owners, with names such as Vincent, Dunell and Renaut is traced back to the earliest known owner Rossignol in the late 1800's. Some 65 years ago, it ends up in the hands of the current owners. At that time they only bought the right half of the granite building and turned it into a home and a six bedroom guesthouse. In the 1980's the Beaufort House, the beautiful granite house next door, was purchased. Both houses were combined and since then it is run as a nice 14 room hospital guesthouse.
The Cache
The cache is located on a semi-public part of a private property. If there is people close by you can: a) wait until they are gone (you might be waiting for a while), or b) explain what you are doing or going to do.
The cache is actually not more than 1 foot or 30 cm from the sidewalk. To put your hands on the cache you don't have to go into the parking area.
To open the cache you have to have a code. You will find the code by answering the following questions and use a = 1, b = 2, c = 3.. and so on. To answer the questions you have to locate the two identical signs that you can find on both sides of the entrance gate. Replace the mentioned letters of the mentioned words (only the 5 large words should be used) using the forementioned rule, do the math and calculate the code and open the cache. After you signed the logbook, maybe traded some goodies, please put everything back together as you found it, thank you.
digit 1 = fifth word fourth letter - fourth word first letter
digit 2 = fourth word fourth letter + third word fifth letter - fifth word first letter
digit 3 = second word third letter + first word fourth letter
digit 4 = third word nineth letter - first word seventh letter
BE AWARE
The restaurant staff has NO knowledge of the cache whatsover. The staff of the geusthouse does, but since it is a place of business do not bother them please.
Pictures in your log are appreciated. But if you put pictures in which the sign can be read in your log or if you put other spoiler information in your log, your log will be removed without warning.
Acknowledgements
This cache is placed with permission of the property owner.
Additional Hints
(No hints available.)