Well originally this cache was going to be called Danger of Death due to the electrical pylons and cables running overhead, but in the end it got changed to Sheep Dip and heres the reason why.
When setting a cache I like to hide it then leave it a while and do a couple of checks on it before submitting it for review. Just because I have had a few caches go missing before they are published. This way I can get a pretty good idea if they will last. This cache was placed in April 2013 and I had made several checks on it and all appeared OK, Final check was made end of September 2013,
As I was making my final check I noticed a Sheep Stuck in a muddy Dyke about 5 Metres away
Now I am in the middle of nowhere, no sign of life anywhere, no passing boats. Also the River Stour is Tidal at this point and it was low tide at the moment, I had a feeling that this part of the Dyke would flood as the tide came in. Drowning the sheep. As their were other sheep in the area Coco the GeoDally was on her lead so I went and tied her to a fence post Then went back to investigate the sheep.
First of all I thought I might be able just to drag her our by the scruff of the neck after several attempts it was clear that this was not going to work as a sheep is not like a dog and their was not much to grab hold of. But I did manage to turn her round to face the other way. So at least she was now facing the way I wanted to drag her.
My next idea was to jump in to the dyke and physically manhandle her out. So I went and got a stick and poked it into the bottom of the Dyke. The mud was at least A foot deep and I could see myself getting stuck as well.
It was fairly obvious that i was going to need a rope to pull the sheep out. Luckily I walk the Dally on a harness and the lead that comes with it is a Inch and half wide strap that is about 12 feet long. Now my next problem was the Dog was tied up and their were other sheep roaming free. To use the Dog lead to pull the sheep out I was going to have to let the dog off her lead. So I set the Dally free but kept calling her to make sure she stayed with me, I then made the lead into a loop and slipped it over the sheep's head and started to tug, gradually the sheep started to move in the right direction,
But I had to keep stopping as the lead was half strangling the poor animal. After about a half an hour of tugging finally the sheep came clear of the mud and managed to scramble up the bank. The sheep was obliviously quite distressed and I only just managed to get the dogs lead unhooked before she shot off in the direction of all the other sheep
One happy sheep back with her friends
Well thats enough about my sheep rescue, I better tell you how to find the cache
At the given Coordinates you will see a sign on that sign there is a phone number in this format
ABCD-EFGHJK
The cache is located at
N51 19.UVW E001 18.XYZ
Where :-
U=A
V=H
W=(D-B)
X=(G+J)
Y=(C+F)
Z=B
This is a letterbox cache so please stamp the log with the provided stamp (Pad in Cache)
So after all that we have a new cache and a live sheep not a bad result. The only bad thing that happened I managed to drop a cache I was going to set later while rescuing the sheep, so if anybody finds a plastic pig can they let me know