Time and Tide wait for no man
King Canute commands the tide to retreat
Legend has it that Bosham is the site where King Canute of England set his throne on the seashore, sat down and commanded the incoming tide to halt.
The episode is frequently alluded to as the futility of "trying to stop the tide" of an event that is inevitable.
Although the story is sometimes referred to as Canute believing he had supernatural powers, it was actually the King rebuking his flattering courtiers and demonstrating the fallibility of earthly kings. When, inevitably, the tide continued to approach and dashed over the royal feet, Canute announced to his courtiers; “Let all men know how empty and worthless is the power of kings, for there is none worthy of the name, but He whom heaven, earth, and sea obey by eternal laws – God Almighty”.
Fast forwarding to the present day, many have stood on this spot and wished they could make the tide go back.
The road in front of you floods at high tide. If you are careless enough to ignore the signs and park your car there at low tide, you are liable to return later to a disturbing sight.
On a very regular basis, such cars can be seen sitting in water several feet deep – sometimes up to their roofs.
There is a pub garden/patio nearby where it is standard entertainment in the summer for the drinkers to cheer an unfortunate driver as they wade out to their vehicle in a desperate attempt to retrieve it before the engine is flooded and the car wrecked.
Despite spending my entire childhood in Bosham and seeing countless vehicles in this predicament, I myself was quietly enjoying a drink in the pub one day and could hear laughter from the patio. It eventually dawned on me that it was my own stricken car that was causing the entertainment! I leapt up and waded out just in time - the water was up to the wheel arches. To enormous applause I was thankfully able to drive the car out, with only my dignity damaged.
Be warned!
See if you can succeed where King Canute failed
Alternative logging method
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To claim this cache you must be King Canute and post a picture of yourself at the published coordinates commanding the sea to retreat.
Alternatively post a picture of something with your geocaching name on it, taken at the given coordinates.
Example pictures are above.
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After completing the cache you may want to visit the beautiful Saxon church nearby. The church contains the grave of King Canute’s daughter and also has a Church Micro cache!
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.