Fifteen Miles on the Point Pleasant Canal
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This is a two stage Multicache with the second stage being the final cache location. While completing this cache, you will be able to get up close and personal with the majesty that is the Point Pleasant Canal. At each stage, you will be able to the mouth of the canal open to Bay Head Harbor (which in turn flows to the Beaver Dam Creek, Metedeconk River, and the Barnegat Bay) as well as the Manasquan River, depending on which stage you are at.
Park at corner of Front St. and Bradford Ave. to begin looking for Stage 1.
Please be sure to replace each stage back exactly as found, also, please use stealth.
Before searching for this cache, there are some safety guidelines you MUST heed!
1. If you bring children on the hunt, keep a watchful eye on them at ALL times! The fence separating you and the dangerous currents can be lower than your waist in certain points (Measured against me at 5’ 11’’). This also goes for you as well, be aware!
2. ABSOLUTELY NO BOAT IS REQUIRED TO FIND THIS CACHE. Not only are small personal watercraft PROHIBITED in the canal (As per orders of the New Jersey State Police) trying to moor a vessel to the side of the canal is not only extremely dangerous, but most likely illegal as well.
3. DO NOT TRY TO SWIM TO THIS CACHE EITHER. Again, you can access this cache by land; swimming will undoubtedly lead to serious injury or death.
4. There’s no need to trespass on private property, or park in any No Parking spots. Both stages are easily accessible from public areas, and ample parking is in the area.
5. Have fun, and enjoy the hunt and the history of this area!
The plan for the canal was originally laid out in 1833. The New Jersey Assembly authorized the creation of the Manasquan River and Barnegat Bay Canal Company to connect the bay to the Manasquan River through the lakes that dot Bay Head and Point Pleasant. However, nothing came of this plan. It would be more than 75 years before any headway was made on what is now the Point Pleasant Canal.
In 1908, the State of New Jersey began dredging its portion of the Intercoastal Waterway. The ICW ran all the way North from Cape May. Initially, the plan to have the canal included in the waterway failed. However, in 1915, the project was finished north to Bay Head, and the state purchased the right-of-way for what would become the Point Pleasant Canal.
In 1916, construction finally began on the canal. Crews dredged a half mile into the Bay Head marshland before the Unites States’ entrance to World War I brought all work to a halt. Construction resumed in 1918 after emergency defense funding was secured. For seven more years, excavation proceeded at a snail’s pace due to the state only allotting a very small amount of money to go to the building of the canal.
The Route 88 Bridge was constructed while the canal was still dry, while the Lovelandtown Bridge was built in 1929, several years after the opening.
At 3:15 P.M. on December 15, 1925, a scoop dredge lifted a shovel full of dirt and allowed the waters of the Barnegat Bay and the Manasquan River to mix. The canal would become navigable sometime in 1926.
Besides building setbacks, there were also major environmental controversies surrounding the canal. One major concern surrounded the fresh, still waters of upper Barnegat Bay and the Metedeconk River. Many opposed the canal, because once the canal was opened, the salty tidal waters of the Manasquan River would destroy cranberry bogs, and kill the bass, perch and pike that lived in the fresh waters. This became reality, and in 1925 the ecology of the watershed south of Point Pleasant would be forever changed.
Problems plagued the canal even after it opened, too. Immediately after opening to navigation, the strong currents began to erode the banks of the canal, which were not bulkheaded. This created shoaling, and nearly closed the canal. The two bridges also began to be undermined. The Manasquan Inlet also began to shoal over, and it even closed up, creating a beach that people could walk from Manasquan to Point Pleasant on.
In 1935, federal officials began to tackle the erosion problem. They built wooden bulkheads, which only temporarily solved the issue. In 1960, the wooden bulkheads started to erode at their bases. To solve this problem, the Army Corps of Engineers began dropping boulders into the canal to stabilize the original bulkheads. These boulders created some very shallow sections of the canal, which in turn created extremely hazardous currents, and in some spots, rapids.
In 1986, both bridges were replaced, and the rocks were removed from the canal.
Recently, the metal bulkheads are being replaced along the canal.
Hope you enjoyed the cache and the local history!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
[Stage 1] Jvguva nez'f ernpu. Chyy ba gur 15 yo grfg Zbabsvynzrag gb fant gur svefg pyhr.
[Stage 2] Uvqvat va gur sbyvntr.