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Dragon Boat Letterbox Letterbox Hybrid

This cache has been archived.

WC Geocachers.: This one disappeared some time ago together with the stamp that was made specially for it. Archiving to permit space for new and improved cache.

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Hidden : 9/5/2016
Difficulty:
2.5 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   small (small)

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Geocache Description:

This Letterbox Hybrid cache was placed as part of the Century City 9 Icon Walk held during Cape Town 2016. The cache is at the listed co-ordinates.

PLEASE LEAVE THE STAMP IN THE CACHE CONTAINER - IT IS NOT FOR TRADING.

 photo ps-action_zpsfbouuq5x.jpg

Dragon Boating was introduced to South Africa in 1992 when two beautiful flag-catching dragon boats were presented to Cape Town by our sister city I'lan County, Taiwan. To celebrate this, a group of canoeists and lifesavers raced and won a best of three against the visiting Taiwanese Navy fleet who had delivered the boats to South Africa.

After this not much happened until 1995 when the City of Cape Town, custodians of the boats, approached a local promotions company. The company showed no interest in dragon boating but Nicola Osse was fascinated. She formed her own company, took the necessary IDBF exams and set about taking a team to the 1995 Hong Kong International and the First World Championships in Yue Yang in China. This was followed by the 1st Cape Town International, with seven teams in the international section (Britain's Royal Raspberries and Germany's Holstein Hamburg, the newly formed Cape Town Paddlesnappers and Pirates teams, a team of top canoeists, the Portuguese Youth League and an SA Navy team). There were also four corporate teams. All racing was done using the wooden flag-catching boats but without the flag-catching finishes.The following year six fibreglass racing dragon boats were launched at the V&A just in time for the 2nd Cape Town Dragon Boat Racing International in November 1996.

In 2003, the Western Cape Dragon Boat Association (WCDBA) was given custodianship of the City's two wooden flag-catchers and in 2006 took custodian of two more, generously donated by the Taiwanese community. Regular league racing was instituted in 2006 using these flag catchers. They are not only very beautiful boats, but the final act of the flag-catchers leaping up over the dragon's head and stretching as far as they can to catch the flag introduces an extra element of drama.

Up till 2009, only four Cape clubs owned their own boats. After a frustrating saga stretching from 2006 to 2009, the WCDBA joyfully launched a fleet of new fibreglass boats in February. These boats are special because not only have they allowed the sport to blossom with astonishing rapidity, but also they were built by another unique institution, the Whisper Boat Building Academy for deaf black youngsters in Khayelitsha.

 photo paddles_zpslxygctjh.jpg
The main venues of Dragon Boating are the V&A and right here in Century City. Perhaps if you are lucky, you may even see some Dragon Boat action while finding this cache. Other places in South Africa with dragon boat racing are the Johannesburg area of Gauteng (started in 1999), Parys in the Free State (started 2004) and Durban in Natal (started 2009).

Information taken from www.dragonboat.org.za

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Gbc bs gur fgnvef, cnegyl haqre ohfu

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)