Credit River - Asgard II Traditional Cache

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Hidden : 7/2/2014
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
5 out of 5

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:


Credit River - Shipwreck Series

Asgard II
 September 11, 2008



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

Asgard II
Asgard II was the Irish national sail training vessel, until she sank in the Bay of Biscay in 2008. A brigantine, she was commissioned on 7 March 1981 and purpose-built as a sail training vessel by Jack Tyrrell in Arklow, County Wicklow. She was named after the Asgard, a yacht which smuggled weapons for the Irish Volunteers in 1914.

Asgard II sank in the Bay of Biscay on 11 September 2008, 20 nautical miles (37 km) southwest of Belle-Île-en-Mer.

The five crew and twenty trainees had earlier abandoned the vessel after she started taking on water. Asgard II was heading from Falmouth to La Rochelle for some routine maintenance. Assistance was given by Haldoz and Arklow Venus and two lifeboats from Belle Île, Morbihan, France.

Before the end of 2008, a plan to raise the ship was put to the Irish cabinet. It was hoped that the €3.8 million costs would be paid for by the insurers, with the vessel being raised in spring 2009, given favourable conditions.

The vessel was in a relatively good condition on the sea bed with one of her hull planks damaged; it is unclear whether this damage was caused by impact with the sea bed, or was the cause of the sinking, possibly from a collision with a semi–submerged container. She rests under 80 metres (260 ft) of water on a sandy seabed with no rocks, and she was "upright on the seabed and salvageable" in September. An early salvage was desirable before damage from winter storms and fishing nets. On 23 February 2009 the then Minister for Defence, Willie O'Dea, announced that the Asgard II would not be raised. Jimmy Deenihan, spokesperson for the opposition Fine Gael party expressed disappointment:
"It is over five months since the Asgard II sank in the Bay of Biscay. In that time any chance that the vessel would be recovered were seriously undermined by the Ministers' own hesitancy on the matter. Not one but two salvage feasibility surveys were commissioned in that period and the available weather windows were wasted when a salvage operation was possible."

In 2010 a private team of Irish divers recovered a number of artifacts from the wreck, such as the ships bell and steering wheel.

This cache is meant to be done by kayak/canoe. This section of the Credit River is not suitable for tubing.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Pnzb ghor jverq gb n oenapu bire gur jngre. Fbhgu fvqr bs gerr.

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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