Credit River - Despatch Traditional Cache

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Hidden : 8/7/2013
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
4.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:


Credit River - Shipwreck Series

Despatch
 July 10, 1828



There are many shipwrecks around the world. Some very famous and others not so. Each however has it’s own story to tell. As you travel along the Credit River doing this series of caches, we have highlighted a number of these shipwrecks. During low water levels on these parts of the Credit River, you need to be careful in a canoe or kayak so as you don’t wind up in your own shipwreck. Besides the many large rocks along the way, there are also some other obstacles such as dams which should be avoided. All of the geocaches in this series have been placed by tubing, inflatable boat or on foot by walking in the water along the Credit River. Whichever way you choose to search for these caches, use caution and common sense.
More information about this series can be found here: Credit River - Shipwreck Series

Despatch
The Scottish Brig The Despatch left Ireland for Quebec with 200 passengers and a crew of 11, on May 29,1828. 42 days into the journey a storm started building and the Despatch encountered fog and ice and the storm increased in intensity. On the evening of July 10, 1828 the 100 foot brig was driven during the storm, toward the rocks of the small island Wreck Rock. It is believed that the ship hit a submerged rock known as "the Bad Neighbour" before floundering upon Wreck Rock and breaking up.

Once again it is not so much the shipwreck that is famous it is the rescue.

Ann Harvey, age 17, of Isle aux Morts, her father, her brother, age 12 and their Newfoundland Dog named Hairyman saved over 180 Irish immigrants from the wreck of the brig Despatch. That morning, when Ann sighted a keg and a straw bed floating in the turbulent seas, they immediately realized a ship had been wrecked nearby. George and Ann fetched twelve-year-old Tom, George’s oldest son, and their Newfoundland dog, Hairy Man, and launched their punt with little regard for their own safety. On a beach nearby they found six men who had survived the wreck and set out to find more survivors. They found a large group on a tiny island that would be thereafter be known as Wreck Rock. This rock, three miles from shore, was barely large enough to hold the remaining survivors of the thirty or more who had died from exhaustion or washed away and drowned. They got to this small rock by means of a mast they had cut away from the sinking vessel. George could get no closer than 100 feet of the survivors due to the heavy seas. He threw a billet of wood to which the survivors attached a rope and George got his dog to swim for it. Each of the passengers were taken off the rock in this fashion.

Five more of the survivors died on the rock and ten more expired on land after their dramatic rescue. The waves remained merciless the entire time; two babies were swept from their mother’s arms. But over an exhausting three-day period from Sunday morning to Tuesday morning, more than 180 people were saved in this manner by Ann and George.

The Royal Humane Society issued a special medal for heroism for Ann. In 1938, she and her father also saved a number of people from another shipwreck at the same spot as the Despatch. Isle aux Morts was so dangerous to shipping that throughout her life Ann and the other settlers were burying bodies that washed ashore. In 1987, the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Ann Harvey was commissioned.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Fznyy pbybheshy pbagnvare gur fvmr bs n qrpx bs pneqf. Unatvat ba ovt anvy ba gbc onpx bs jbbqrq senzr. Ebbz sbe fznyy genqvat vgrzf naq GO'f.

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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