The Mystery of the John Dwight Multi-Cache

This cache has been archived.

Wreck Diver: Between the caching community's growing disinterest in solving complex caches and my own shortage of free time, it is still with some sadness that I now archive The Mystery of the John Dwight.

My appreciation and regards to those of you who solved the Dwight's puzzles and earned a successful find.

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Hidden : 9/20/2004
Difficulty:
4 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

This multi-cache is not only offset from the listed coordinates, but it requires following in the footsteps of rum-runners during their business hours.

The "Roaring 20's" were an era of speak-eases, bathtub gin, and rum-running. Though the 18th Amendment was only four years old, efforts were well underway to circumvent Prohibition and make the Great Depression a little less depressing. Hooch-laden vessels from Canada would wait just outside of U.S. territorial waters for the cover of darkness when American craft would load the liquid cargo and run for some deserted stretch of coastline where it would be sold for a healthy profit. In the 1920's, Cape Cod and the Islands were a hot spot for running illegal booze, but as can be expected from any unlawful venture where there was opportunity for great profit, there was also great certainty of danger.

On a very foggy morning on April 06, 1923 the freighter John Dwight left Newport, Rhode Island with New York as its reported destination. The vessel anchored in Buzzards Bay that afternoon and attracted the attention of the mail boat from New Bedford to Cuttyhunk. The captain of the mail boat hailed the John Dwight and received the reply that they were having engine trouble and that they would be underway soon. The mail boat captain reported this as suspicious and as authorities began researching the deceit, it was determined that the two captains had also given fictitious names to port authorities. Carrying an unlawful cargo of rum and ale, the John Dwight used the heavy fog that evening to move into Vineyard Sound for their rendezvous at about 6:00 a.m. that next morning. The steamer Dorchester, enroute to Boston through the Vineyard Sound, reported seeing the John Dwight with its lifeboat davits empty and a boat with the three men on it rowing toward Naushon Island. An extensive search was conducted, but no one was found.

What happened next may never be known, but it is presumed that a double-cross occurred between the captains and the crew. Some reports indicate machine gun fire, others an explosion. The men manning the life-saving station at Gay Head heard a long whistle, and thinking that a vessel must be in distress, launched a rescue boat. At 7:00 a.m. the fog lifted and a lookout at Cuttyhunk spotted the ship flying a distress signal and sinking by the stern. When rescue craft arrived, the ship had already sunk. No survivors were found.

The mystery was compounded when twenty four hours later, seven crewmen were found drifting in an area of Vineyard Sound that had been extensively searched the day before. The crewmen's bodies were found floating in life preservers, their faces badly battered. A small lifeboat that came ashore near Martha's Vineyard contained the son of one of the captains. He had apparently made a valiant attempt at survival; fashioning oarlocks and sweeps from materials within the craft before his skull had been crushed.

Navy divers from the minesweeper USS Falcon descended to the John Dwight to examine the wreck and it was determined that the seacocks had been opened and the ship intentionally scuttled. The Navy divers retrieved the ship's cryptic log and after determining that the vessel was carrying contraband cargo, Customs Agents were notified. The Customs Agents requested that the John Dwight be destroyed using four depth charges to prevent salvage of the cargo.

While the lifeboat containing the captain's son came ashore on Naushon Island, the second lifeboat has never been accounted for. It is believed that the two captains used the lifeboat to board the unknown rendezvous vessel and then return to Buzzards Bay where part of the cargo was hidden.

Though the wreck of the John Dwight is fraught with strong currents, poor visibility, and dangerous entanglements, divers continue to explore the deep wreck and recover artifacts. There are still countless rum and ale bottles strewn throughout the ghostly wreckage, and divers have recently located a hidden compartment in the captain's quarters that held an unexplained drawing. It is speculated that the unexplained drawing may hold a clue to the Captain's unsolved Vigenere Cipher.

Special thanks to Don Ferris and to the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources for helping provide reading material to those who prefer to keep a much greater distance from rum-runners.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Vevfuzna'f cebireo: Orre orsber yvdhbe, arire orra fvpxre; yvdhbe orsber orre, arire srne.

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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