Cache of the Ancient Mariner Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

K Trackers: Construction in the area is forcing the next generation of revisions to Cache of the Ancient Mariner. In order to get the cache to full working condition, it is necessary to wait until nearby construction is complete to facilitate updated hides, coordinates and cache description. Because this process may take up to 12 months, the cache will be archived as a better long term management tool in lieu of a short term disable. Once the construction work is complete, the cache will be updated and enabled. Instead of waiting for the cache to be enabled, TBs currently in the cache will be removed and put into circulation by the CO.

If there are any questions or issues, please contact me and we can have a discussion.

Thanks all for your patience.

More
Hidden : 9/20/2011
Difficulty:
5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:


The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is the longest major poem by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, written in 1797–98 and was published in 1798 in the first edition of Lyrical Ballads. Along with other poems in Lyrical Ballads, it was a signal shift to modern poetry and the beginning of British Romantic literature. The poem may have been inspired by James Cook's second voyage of exploration (1772–1775) of the South Seas and the Pacific Ocean; Coleridge's tutor, William Wales, was the astronomer on Cook's flagship and had a strong relationship with Cook.

"Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean."

"Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink."


Note for Geocachers: The cache is not located at the posted coordinates. Please note that this cache is rated a 5 difficulty for the sub tasks required to generate the final cache location, the hide itself is rated a 2. All locations are on public grounds or with permission.


Introduction: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is set during a time when navigation skills were in the hands of a elite and well educated cadre of navigators and mariners. Myth, folklore, and luck were considered as important tools as the sextant, astrolabe, planisphere and compass. Now armed with a GPS, geocachers can exceed the feats of the ancient mariners and navigators with considerably less skill. Cache of the Ancient Mariner (abbreviated COTAM) gives you, the geocacher, the chance to demonstrate your skill in the dying art of navigation while searching for swag in the infamous Davy Jones Locker (final cache site).

General Instructions: In order to chart a successful course to find the actual cache location, you must navigate to each of the waypoints, performing various tasks to demonstrate your navigational prowess. Each waypoint may require you to employ specialized navigation equipment or skills. Additional research may be required to fully understand the instructions and complete the stated task. The instructions will not explain what equipment you need, the geocacher may use whatever equipment works to generate the correct answer. Performing each task correctly will generate number combinations that you will use to chart a course to the final cache coordinates, Davy Jones Locker. Use of a automobile, instead of a sailing ship, is recommended to get in vicinity of the COTAM waypoints. A bike or walking to all of the waypoints is recommended, not all waypoints are park and grab by car. If bringing a car, the recommended parking spot is the Safe Harbor (Waypoint 1) and biking or walking from there. It does not matter what order you complete the waypoints, but it is recommended to find the NOTMAR (Waypoint 2) first to gain access to the hints if you need them. Other than your GPS and the special equipment required for each Waypoint, it is recommended to bring a notebook and writing utensil to take good notes.

Hints. Even the best navigator had to consult a almanac when at sea, so a geocacher might need a hint or two to complete COTAM. Annotated on the NOTAM (see Waypoint 2) are up to two encrypted clues, a Almanac Clue and a Albatross Clue, for each Waypoint. Each clue must be manually decoded using standard geocaching Rotate By Thirteen Places (ROT13) cipher. A functional ROT13 geocoin will work. Manual decoding allows you to control the amount of hint information revealed. The Almanac Clue (lesser clue) usually provides a equipment hint. If you need significantly more help, the Albatross Clue (greater clue) provides a bigger nudge in the right direction. Keep track of how many times you reference the Almanac or 'shoot a Albatross', this information will be needed when you finish your Captain's Log (online geocache log entry) after you find the cache.

If you're ready for a land based, seafaring, geocaching adventure, read on!

"One after one, by the star-dogged Moon
Too quick for groan or sigh,
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye."

"Four times fifty living men,
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
They dropped down and DNF'ed, one by one."


Waypoint 1: Safe Harbor. This location is the recommended parking place, roughly center of the various COTAM waypoints. This location is especially useful if you drove to the area and plan on biking or walking to the various waypoints. Some Waypoints are only accessible by bike or foot.

"The ship was cheered, the harbour cleared,
Merrily did we drop
Below the kirk, below the hill,
Below the light-house top."


Waypoint 2: Notice to Mariners (NOTMAR) . Navigators would often use nautical charts to navigate maritime areas and coastal regions. A Notice to Mariners advises mariners of important matters affecting navigational safety, including new hydrographic information, changes in channels, aids to navigation, and other important data. To complete your nautical geocaching adventure, you need a copy of the COTAM NOTMAR. The COTAM NOTMAR will provide a map of the area with the various waypoints, ROT13 encrypted hints, and the incomplete latitude and longitude that will lead you to Davy Jones' Locker. Marginal information may or may not provide additional clues. Using your GPS, you can find the COTAM NOTMAR at the posted waypoint coordinates, take only one please! **The NOTMAR container is very susceptible to being muggled, so please use stealth. Also, please make sure the container is attached to the securing mechanism when you return it.**

Waypoint 3: Mean Sea Level. Use your GPS to navigate to the posted waypoint coordinates. Once there, you must conduct Depth Sounding, and determine the distance from the top edge to the bottom of the 'sea floor' below you. See the posted picture to help orient you to the correct spot and where to take your measurement from. Record your answer in fathoms (using US fathom measurement), rounding to the nearest whole number. The correct answer is a one digit number.

"Under the keel nine fathom deep,
From the land of mist and snow,
The spirit slid: and it was he
That made the ship to go.
The sails at noon left off their tune,
And the ship stood still also."


Waypoint 4: Futtock. Use your GPS to navigate to the posted waypoint coordinates. At the posted coordinates, you will find a structure. Go into the center of the structure and look up. Count the objects that most closely resemble futtocks. Record your answer. The correct answer is a one digit number.

Waypoint 5: Bearing. Use your GPS to navigate to the posted waypoint coordinates during the day. The correct location will feature a stone 'deck' and a metal 'mast.' Placing your back to the metal 'mast,' scan the horizon for the highest, natural terrain feature. Take a bearing to the highest point of this terrain feature. Your bearing should be in degrees, rounding down to the nearest 10th degree (example: 147 degrees would equal 140). Once you round down, convert your degree bearing to mils and record the answer. Drop any fractions / decimals after you convert to mils. The correct answer is a four digit number.The terrain feature is only visible during the day.

Waypoint 6: Astronavigation. Use your GPS to navigate to the posted coordinates at night. The correct location will feature a stone 'piling' and a artifical light source. Put your back to the piling and scan the horizon to the south, south-east. You are looking for a artifical 'Polaris,' the largest man made light source visible. If you did not come at night, the 'Polaris' will not be visible. Take a bearing to the artificial Polaris. Your bearing should be in degrees, rounding down to the nearest 10th degree (example: 147 degrees would equal 140). Once you round down, add the number of major stars in both the big and little dipper asterisms to get the final Waypoint answer. If the weather is clear, you can count them overhead from your position. The correct answer is a three digit number. The artificial Polaris is visible only at night.

"The stars were dim, and thick the night,
The steersman's face by his lamp gleamed white;
From the sails the dew did drip--
Till clombe above the eastern bar
The horned Moon, with one bright star
Within the nether tip."


Waypoint7: Solar Calculus. At this location you must determine the altitude of the sun. You may use your GPS to navigate to the posted coordinates. In order to get the most accurate reading, it is best to take your reading between 11:50 am and 12:10 pm. A ship's navigator would take the reading at high noon for the most accurate readings. Round this number down to the nearest 10th degree (example: 147 degrees would equal 140). Once you have rounded down, adjust this number based upon the month you take your reading:
Jan: +60
Feb: +50
Mar: +40
Apr: +30
May: +20
Jun: +10
Jul: +10
Aug: +20
Sep: +30
Oct: +40
Nov: +50
Dec: +60

Example, a 147 reading in Jan would equal 200 (147 rounded to 140, +60, = 200). Once you have made the adjustment, record your final answer. The correct answer is a two digit number.

"All in a hot and copper sky,
The bloody Sun, at noon,
Right up above the mast did stand,
No bigger than the Moon."


Waypoint8 (Virtual): Geography. All Navigators and Mariners had a good understanding of geography. On your NOTAM, there is only one terrain feature that has a real life counterpart, the other terrain feature names are fictitious. Identify the country that the real life terrain feature counterpart is located in. Once you have identified this country, you can convert the country name to a number. Convert each letter to a number by using A =1, B =2, Z = 26, etc. Add all of the numbers together, except for subtracting the last number . Example: ABCD equals 2 (A =1, B =2, C=3, D=4; 1+2+3-4 =2). Record your final number. The correct answer is a two digit number.

Charting your course to Davy Jones Locker. The coordinates to Davy Jones Locker consists of a seven digit latitude (N) and a eight digit longitude (W). The NOTAM provides four numbers (2 latitude, 2 longitude), you must calculate the remainder by:

Latitude digit 1: First digit of your answer to Waypoint 8

Latitude digit 2:The last digit to Waypoint 5.

Latitude digit 4: Answer to Waypoint 4.

Latitude digit 6: Add all the digits of your answer to Waypoint 5, then divide by 4. (example, a 1111 would be 1+1+1+1 = 4, divided by 4, for a final digit of 1.)

Latitude digit 7: Answer to Waypoint 3, plus 1.

Longitude digit 2: The second digit of the answer Waypoint 5.

Longitude digit 4: The last digit of Waypoint 6.

Longitude digit 5: The last digit of your answer to Waypoint 8.

Longitude digit 6: Waypoint 3 minus 1.

Longitude digit 7 and 8: Waypoint 7 minus 1. The result is a two digit number which provides the last two numbers (7 and 8) of longitude. (7 and 8) of longitude.

Once you have completed your calculations, you can check your answers for this puzzle on Geochecker.com.

Navigating to Davy Jones Locker. Once you have the coordinates to Davy Jones Locker, it is a 'simple' matter of finding the final cache. Keeping looking, you would not want to have to wear a DNF around your neck! Although COTAM is a mystery cache, there is a compass rose stamp for those geocachers that enjoy Letterboxing .

There is a small bag with a unactivated FTF TB, for the First to Find.

When complete, please fill out your Captain's Log (geocache log entry). Revel us with your tale and how many Almanac references and Albatross shootings you made. Once you find the final cache, hopefully you will have enjoyed the challenge and the feeling of the wind and sea in your face. Good Luck!

"The selfsame moment I could pray;
And from my neck so free
The Albatross fell off, and sank
Like lead into the sea."

Special thanks to EJCache for his help in overcoming challenges while putting the final cache in!

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Frr gur ABGNZ

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)


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