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Das Boot Traditional Cache

Hidden : 1/1/2012
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This cache is linked to the extraordinary story of German spies living in Boca during WWII. You can get to the cache from A1A by walking along the public access walkway between two condos to the beach, which runs alongside Sanborn Wall which is marked with a plaque, or you could walk along the beach to the cache, if you've already parked at the co-ords shown. There is free parking there. (until they put meters in!) Or even arrive by boat.....

The plaque reads: "On this spot in June 1942, spies from German U-boats landed and occupied Dr. William Sanborn's home, built on this site in 1937. The subs, deployed during World War II as part of Hitler's Operation Drumbeat, torpedoed tankers and freighters traveling the East Coast shipping lane, carrying vital supplies to the U.S. and England. The Germans sank 397 ships and killed 5,000 people. Twenty-four ships sank off the coast of Florida, 16 between Cape Canaveral and Boca Raton."

The wall is more obvious than the small plaque, which doesn't give the whole story:

In the middle of a June night in 1942, the Barrett's living next door to the Sanborn's house, were woken by soldiers, after they'd been alerted by neighbors who had seen flashing signal lights coming from that area. The Barrett's had followed the strict blackout rules, and suggested the soldiers try looking next door, even though the Sanborn's were not there at that time, as it was their winter home.

A large wall surrounded the Sanborn's house, which meant the soldiers had to drive round in their jeeps and motorbikes, making enough noise to warn anyone in the house they were coming. When the soldiers got there, they found the back door open, and empty food cans on the table, as well as clear evidence that people had been sleeping in the beds.

More significantly, in the main room with a window overlooking the sea, they found a telescope and signaling device. They never caught anyone, but concluded that the people in the house had been signaling to U-Boats offshore to let them know when American ships were passing.

Please replace the cache carefully and exactly as found!

UPDATE DECEMBER 2015:
Co-ords remain exactly the same, but the hide has completely changed. Kept going missing, even though the last version was nailed in place, so given up hiding it under the boardwalk, now its hidden in exactly the same spot as the 'decoy' which never went missing, and which I think only one person ever mentioned finding, next to the post, and usually buried under all the leaves. Lowered the difficulty and terrain ratings accordingly, as no need to go crawling in the sand underneath the boardwalk any more, but not great access by wheelchair these days, as its a bit overgrown around the entrance to the boardwalk

****** CONGRATULATIONS TO dfer & JA1 FOR FTF!!! ******

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

arkg gb cbfg, qba'g unir gb yrnir gur obneqjnyx

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)