Saving Lives at Sea Virtual Cache

Sir William Hillary, 1^st Baronet (4^th January 1771 – 5^th January 1847).

The Isle of Man will always hold a unique place in the annals of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (R.N.L.I.). As shipping increased in the Irish Sea so did the number of wrecks on Manx shores with an appalling loss of life. After Sir William Hillary came to reside in Douglas, he joined in many rescues and from his experiences and distressed by the loss of life common in shipwrecks he was moved to launch his famous “Appeal”. This culminated in the formation, in 1824, of “The National Institution for the Preservation of Life from Shipwrecks”, and its objective was to be able to provide aid for those shipwrecked, rewards for those who risked their lives and make provision for the wives and children of those lost in rescue attempts. What Sir William began continues today through the work of (currently 238) lifeboat stations around the British Isles.

During the disaster to the St George steamship on the 28^th November 1830 Sir William, at the age of 60, commanded the lifeboat, was washed overboard with others of the lifeboat crew, yet finally everyone aboard the St George was rescued with no loss of life. This led to him organising the construction of the tower as a place of refuge. The tower was designed by John Welch and was erected in 1832 on Conister Rock, a partially submerged reef, at a cost of £255 of which £181 was raised by public subscription, the remainder being paid by Sir William.

As well as the Tower of Refuge, Sir William was instrumental in recommendations for the construction of a Breakwater at Douglas, to afford the harbour greater shelter and to provide a haven to ships plying the Irish Sea.

At one time Sir William lived in Fort Anne on Douglas Head and is buried in St George’s churchyard, Douglas.

Due to the continuing unpredictability of the Irish Sea the Isle of Man is blessed with 5 lifeboat stations and each one is waymarked below.

To log this virtual you must visit all 5 waypoints and answer the 5 questions below. You may visit these lifeboat stations in any order and at each lifeboat station please take a photo of yourself or your GPS at the location.

Please post your photos with your log and message us the answers separately (in the order asked below) via e-mail or the message centre, there is a link at the top of this page. Please do not put your answers or any spoiler photos in your log, if you do we will ask you to amend it.

The Questions:

1. At waypoint 1 on the other side of the road is a yellow sign screwed to the wall, what are the two letters and the two numbers on it?
2. At waypoint 2 on the other side of the road is a grey box, what does the sign on the right hand door say?
3. At waypoint 3 on the west side of the lifeboat station about ten yards from the station is a bench, what was "His Darling Wife's" christian name?
4. At waypoint 4 on the slipway side of the building is a foundation stone, what is the surname of the person who laid it?
5. At waypoint 5 looking towards the slipway there is a blue sign, what is not permitted north (to the left) of the slipway?

Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019-2021

This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and December 31, 2021. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.