Are you familiar with TAT's Tidal Cache in Scarborough?
Here is the link on GC.com......

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=e8462a7d-38ff-494a-880a-9c0f9fd9cbe0 (http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=e8462a7d-38ff-494a-880a-9c0f9fd9cbe0)

The goal is to get to the coordinates listed or get as close as possible. The challenge is that it is best done at the lowest of low tides which only occur a couple of times a year. Next opportunity.........January 11, 2005 at 5:42pm when the tide is -1.8 feet.

Pinepoint mentioned the date on a log that he made for the cache in August and indicated that he would try again in January (and bring hot chocolate if others wanted to join him.....mmmmmm). YOP picked up on that idea and has been diligently plotting a trip to the cache. Since the time of low tide will be after dark on the 11th, he will be going to the location on the 9th to check out the best approach and will also be researching the parking options (not the best in the summer at least - perhaps now is better).

At this point, a few of us have joined in on the trip plan (YOP, GeoMaine, GeoTyger, flwrldy and her buds, we hope Pinepoint, and me). We welcome others and thought this might be a great way to let everyone know what is in the works. We can also consider submitting a request for a group cache event and trade TB's, go somewhere for a hot chocolate after, or whatever - very informal.

Care to join us?
Thoughts about making it an event?

I'm going to try to make it. This doesn't surface very often, so it should be fun.

I have also submitted this cache to http://www.earthcache.org/. Check out the link. If approved, it will be the first of its kind in Maine!

TB exchange is a good reason to make it an event. If you want me to do it, let me know. If someone else wants to do it, that's fine too. Of course, you can also log tbs on a virtual, just don't leave them there, they'll freeze and drown!

The parking listed in the description is the safest, even in the winter. Having said that, I parked at the place implied in Maine Seaside Stash. and had no problem. I'm not sure how the law decides what is and what isn't legal street parking. There are plenty of no parking signs, but there are also some obvious spots (not marked)..

The Brunswick mught be a good place to warm up afterward.

Do you think that tide would hold up until the weekend so those of us who aren't in the area could make it?? :p Ah, yes...'time and the tide....'

The weekend following (1/15-16) won't have much of an advantage over a regular low tide, but the weekend prior to (1/8-9) might work, particularly on that Sunday. Here is the link to the tide chart if you want to check it out....

http://www.maineharbors.com/janpt05.htm

Hmmm...

We might try and make it - luckily it's a Tuesday and that's one day we usually have freee.

As of 9am today, the weather forcast calls for rain and scattered showers on Sunday, 9Jan, but,

Partly cloudy on Tuesday, 11Jan.

So, it looks like a good prospect for getting all the way!

Thanks Beachcomber....Sunday, the 9th looks like a distinct possibility. I believe we will be in the area anyway and the time of day looks pretty good too. As far as the weather goes...the local weatherguy can't predict today's weather let alone a week away!! :D

Just a thought, but if this group cache goes event...anybody in the Bangor area thinking they might go?

I am trying to figure out what everyone is saying here. Is eaveryone going to try and be at this location and do this as a group cache on the 9th?

The original plan has been to do it on the 11th because that is when the tide will be the lowest. That is a Tuesday late afternoon/evening and could be a difficult time for some. Given that, it looks like there might be interest for some to do it on the 9th as the tide might still be reasonable and would eliminate the "after work" issue. Maybe there will end up being a group going on each day depending on individual schedules. The group that I listed in my earlier e-mail was for the 11th. Hope that helps :)

Tuesday the 11th is out for us but we intend to give it a try on Sunday the 9th. We will be in the area anyway visiting my wife's sister and will join up with anyone who wants to do this as a group. Of course, anything can happen between now and Sunday but that is our intention if anyone is interested. My wife is making sure we ARE there. We will be staying overnight and doing other caching in the Portland area so will be happy to meet up with whoever is interested in doing this cache at around 3:00 p.m. Tide is lowest at 3:55 p.m.

Based on logs here and conversations via e-mail, it looks like there is a fair amount of interest in going to the cache on Sunday afternoon (1/9/05) in the daylight and on the weekend so it probably makes sense to start with that. Depending on how close we can get and what interest there is we may go back on Tuesday when the tide is lowest. We'll figure that out on Sunday afternoon.

Low tide is at 3:49 and we will gather at the beach in close vicinity to the coordinates that YOP gave me (below) around 3:00."

Here is some info that YOP gave me.........
"Stopped by Pine Point today (1/3). Think the best parking is at the big Municipal Parking Lot. The signs still say $10.00 parking fee but doubt anyone collects fees in winter, a few other cars there today,and I parked there last winter with no problem. Coords 43 32.464 / 70 20.224 pretty easy to find. Only posted restrictions were for parking between 11PM and 5AM so should be OK.

At this point the weather prediction is....."Mostly cloudy. A chance of mixed precipitation. Highs in the upper 30s. Chance of precipitation 40 percent."

We will likely find a spot to gather after for a cup of hot chocolate or beverage of choice, but we can decide that too when we are there.

Interested in joining in?

Darn. Sunday is out for us. If it had been a Tuesday, we could have arranged it.

Same time next year? :p

For those interested in Tuesday rather than Sunday, the last word I got from YOP is that he is planning on going on Tuesday as well as Sunday (you may want to contact him directly through e-mail). Sounds like GeoMaine and GeoTyger want to go Tuesday instead of Sunday. Haven't heard back from Flwrlady or TAT yet. And I might do both as well - would hate to miss something - heehee!

Not planning to make this an event at this point - we can just each log our find of the cache. Hopefully that won't deter people from joining in as it will still be fun :)

I hope to make it there both days.

While Tuesday has the lowest predicted tide, the actual tide level is also affected by the weather. And by weather, it is not so much if it rains or not, but how much the storm affects the seas. We could have a picture perfect sunny day and a huge storm out to sea. The waves could easily keep anyone from getting close. Likewise, just because the forcast calls for rain doesn't mean that the seas won't be calm.

Hope to see everyone!

Also, if you like clams, this is a great time to go clamming!

I like Tuesday...

I'l discuss w/RULOST2? and see if we can make it. We'd want to make it an overnighter, and do as many caches as we can while there. Got any snow down there?

CLAMS???? Sheesh! They live in the mud in the ocean... I'd rather eat worms!
:rolleyes:

Not much snow at this point (thank goodness!!) and of course, we have LOTS of great caches, too!

We're hoping any major snow will hold off for the rest of the week. We are looking forward to searching out many of those great caches in the Portland area. :D And joining up to do the Tidal Cache of course. :D I've added the parking waypoint posted by Beachcomber via YOP to my pda. I notice it is very near another cache we can do on our way.

Hoping snow will hold off. Those are fighting words. Oh almost forgot the smiley face. :) . I don't want you to think I am serious. I am praying for snow. If there was a snow dance I would do it. I was hoping to come Sunday but forgot about a snowmobiling trip I had scheduled with a friend. We are going to head up north. I am trying to reschedule it for Saturday. I can not make any promises. But I am trying to make it.

You can have all the snow you want AFTER this weekend. Actually, I wouldn't mind a little myself to go snowshoeing. :D From what I hear, you will have to go WAY UP NORTH to find snow. Good luck!! :D

Very little snow here, and what there is is frozen solid after a few warm days.

You'll have to wait a little longer attroll, sorry.

Oh, and that fix you put in worked - I can update my avatar now. :D

Went last weekend sledding up north. A true die hard sledder will go where he has too. LOL. I found a place where there was 2 feet of snow and the trails were nice. I only had to drive 88 miles from home to get there. The close you get to Canada and in the mountains the more snow you can find. The snow is there you just have to know where to go. But it sure would be nice to not have ot drive so far.

Still working on swapping the sledding dates to atend the find though.

Next time, stop by and have a beer! :D

For those that like to plan ahead, here are some interesting upcomming tides:
Spring Tides:
1/11/2005 17:35 -1.73
2/9/2005 17:20 -1.68
1/31/2006 18:20 -1.71
2/28/2006 17:10 -1.67
3/31/2006 6:03 -1.71

Neap Tides:
3/18/2005 23:37 2.17
4/16/2005 23:52 2.3
5/15/2005 23:09 2.2
10/25/2005 11:45 2.21
5/6/2006 0:23 2.11

Since it looks like some of you will travel south Sunday. I'll try to make the trip, hopefully with my navigator. It's almost in my backyard.

Ok. It is getting closer to Sunday. Here is what I have been reading on who is going to try and be there so far:

Beach Comber
Tat
Parmachenee
WhereRWe
Tean2hunt

Did I miss anyone?

We are still working on going. If we do make it does anyone have plans for doing something afterwards, like dinner together at a local place? I was just wondering.

Dinner would be nice since we have to travel back to Bangor. Maybe some of the locals could recommend a place that would accommodate informal geocachers with geocaching attire...boots, windbreakers, etc. :D

Ok. It is getting closer to Sunday. Here is what I have been reading on who is going to try and be there so far:

Beach Comber
Tat
Parmachenee
WhereRWe
Tean2hunt

Did I miss anyone?

We are still working on going. If we do make it does anyone have plans for doing something afterwards, like dinner together at a local place? I was just wondering.

Sorry guys -

I can't make this one.

Same time, next year? :D

A couple other people will be going as well ......

YOP and Haffy, hopefully PinePoint.

Doing something for dinner after would work for me - I'm sure we can find a place that will let you in Frank - hehehe ;)

We (Portland) did get some snow yesterday, but it won't impact doing this cache - and hopefully it will be nearly gone altogether in the next couple of days!

I'm relying on you Beachcomber... :D ....looking forward to the group cache AND getting together for dinner. Charron thinks you have your work cut out for you!! :D

For anyone else that can't make the trip this month, I'm going for the tide on Feb. 9th. It's the last one this year, so I'm taking the day off from work to hit it. 5:20 pm will be just after sunset, should be doable.

If you are interested, but can't make this one, let me know.

I'm up for the challenge - at least I think I am - LOL!

Is there something in particular you (and others, too!) would like to have before you hit the road? Looking for a sandwich, a steak, a beer, a latte, seafood, pizza, etc.? If you give me a tip about you would like, I'll see what I can come up with for options. Of course, that is what they will be - options - I know better than pick the place!!

Can't wait to see everyone - sounds like it will be lots of fun!

Beer and pizza is good!! :D I think everyone likes pizza. Or sandwiches and beer. :D Get the idea?? :D Of course, I'm just speaking for moi'. :)

For anyone else that can't make the trip this month, I'm going for the tide on Feb. 9th. It's the last one this year, so I'm taking the day off from work to hit it. 5:20 pm will be just after sunset, should be doable.

If you are interested, but can't make this one, let me know.

That might be a possible for us - but we'll have to see what the work schedule brings. I avoid driving at night (can't see) so we'd plan on making it an overnighter.

Keep this thread open...

There are plenty of choices. Three pizza places in OOB that serve beer.:) A few seafood places that serve beer.:) Ocean view places that serve beer.:) And, they all also serve hot chocolate! (with or with out Baileys):)

Pizza and beer, is fine. Beer and pizza is good too.

Pizza and beer, is fine. Beer and pizza is good too.

Beer by itself isn't too bad either! :D

I can not promise that I will be there tomorrow. It is a tose up.

Snowmobiling or caching
Snowmobiling or caching
Snowmobiling or caching
Snowmobiling or Snowmobiling
Snowmobiling or Snowmobiling
Snowmobiling or Snowmobiling
Snowmobiling or Snowmobiling

Hmm, it looks like the snowmobiling may be winning.

I can think of a LOT of caches I could get to real easy if I had a snowmobile...

(Well, actually, I have one (a 1972 Skidoo), but it takes most of the day to get it started).

You've got to learn to combine hobbies! :D

:D A great group gathering took place!! What fun! Here's some info about our time together:

TAT - Cache owner extraordinaire was there to educate and guide us on this trek. Interesting information! Thanks for being there - it made the gathering just that much more fun - your laughter is contagious!

YOP - was able to get within 100 feet of the coordinates - best yet! Another "first"! Of course we know HIS secret was wearing hip boots - that was very wise.

Parmachenee and his Geobud - a great team! Unfortunately, couldn't stay to have pizza and beer - I think Frank was worried that he wouldn't get into the restaurant.

Team2hunt - welcome to the crazy world of caching! Was nice to meet you. Sorry that your navigator from the team had the flu. Maybe we'll meet him in Winlsow.

Haffy - A very busy and successful day of caching. Though a near miss losing his glasses at the end of the day only added to the frustration of squashing his PDA as he slid down the hill at the Stroudwater cache in the morning. Hope you get that working!

Beach Comber - I learned today that my "waterproof" boots are not exactly waterproof - ugh! Makes for soggy and cold feet after a day in the snow. Thank goodness I had a second pair in the car!

ktaadnman - An unexpected and welcomed participator! He didn't even know we were meeting - what a surprise to see us all chatting and talking a long ways out on the sand bar.

Cameoooooo - met us in the parking lot, but didn't feel well so didn't make it out onto the sandbar. And people call ME crazy for driving to Bangor - LOL!!

Was a beautiful day - the weather couldn't have been better! Caching in the snow certainly changes the flavor a bit - hopefully next time I will remember to take the "poking tool" out of the car - LOL. Was great fun - I look forward to seeing everyone again. The posts for the cache should be interesting!

Not sure what is happening on Tuesday, but want to say feel free to continue to use this thread to talk about it if you'd like. Or if you prefer GeoMaine and YOP, you can touch base via e-mail or something. If you go, have fun!

Would be fun to try this in the summer months when you wouldn't have to worry about getting shoes wet and then perhaps we could make it out to the exact spot. We'll have to think about that for warmer months. Wouldn't need hot chocolate - perhaps a nice, cold beer would be best.

Couldn't put it better Beachcomber...except I had my BEST waterproof boots on so I KNOW I could get into that restaurant. :D We would LOVE to do this again AND be able to stay and eat. We had so much fun meeting everyone and sharing in those cache finds. We definitely HAVE to do this again! :D

Boy, I really need to get a job...one that has weekends off! I am disappointed that I missed this opportunity! Sounds like it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I will be in California on February 9 so I won't be able to join Sudonim on his adventure. But, maybe another one later... Gee, is anyone up for something tomorrow or Wednesday (Jan 11 & 12)? I just happen to be off!

Hiker Twins, good to hear from you. Some of us are planning to make a second attempt Tuesday 11Jan. Hope to see you there. I'll be there, providing work does not get in the way!

Let me know the time and place to meet!

What a great way to spend a winter day caching. I feel bad that I was not able to make the trip up to participate in the hunt with you. I always enjoy getting together with cachers, having fun, and meeting new people.
For those of you going tomorrow -- Keep your feet dry!

Hiker Twins,

Theoretically, the tide is lowest at 5:42pm at OOB. Based on yesterday it appears to be about 3 minutes early at the cache. I will be comming directly from work so I might be late, if I make it at all.

Parking is at 43 32.464 / 70 20.224

The cache has been muggled! ;)

Ktaadnman emailed me today: "I was talking to a friend at work today who said that the whole mouth of the river was dredged last fall and all the sand dumped on the beach on the Prout's Neck side."

Will the sea reclaim our cache? Only time will tell.

What does that mean for the cache? Anything? Are you still going to leave it active to see what happens over time? YOP got so close, it seems it might be possible to get there again at some point.

And it's good for the cache. I wanted to explain spring and neap tides. That part is still very clear. And now, people can see the effects of dredging.

I think the sand will quickly be replaced by the sand carried by the Gulf Stream currents. The channel will not fill in, but will be cleard by the estuary outflow. Then, the point will be dry at low low tide again.

At any rate, I see no reason to change the reference point. This is a great way to see things that would certainly go unseen on a casual visit once in a while.

We'll give it a year...put it on your calendar for Spring Tide, January 2006. :D

For anyone that went to this cache on the 11th, any useful hints on parking? I've been to OOB, but am not real familiar with the area. I'll be meeting a couple of friends in Portland and making the trip on Feb 9th. (Low tide at 5:20pm) Anyone else is more than welcome too. If you can suggest a good meeting place, even better :P
On a related note, the geocaching.com site doesn't seem to handle earthcaches really well. If you try to go to a map of the area, all other caches show up, except for this one. The column on the right hand side of the map doesn't offer a check box for earthcaches either. I assume it's because they are new, hope it will be fixed soon.

Here is an excerpt from a log made by YOP prior to our visit at the beginning of January...

"Stopped by Pine Point today - think the best parking is at the big Municipal Parking Lot. The signs still say $10.00 parking fee but doubt anyone collects fees in winter, a few other cars there today,and I parked there last winter with no problem. Coords 43 32.464 / 70 20.224 ~ pretty easy to find. Only posted restrictions were for parking between 11PM and 5AM so should be OK."

This is where we all parked on that Sunday - didn't have to pay a fee, was plenty of parking, and is a great starting place for heading to the cache location.

There is another cache in the immediate area as well - here is the link......
http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=5ad4b183-62ba-4277-90e3-a70736fdfb1e

Have fun!!!

Thanks Sudonim for pointing out the map problem. I'll let GC.com know, but I bet It'll take a little while for them to update.

Meanwhile, like BC said, the best parking is the public parking lot. They don't seem to collect fees in the off season.

I'd like to make it there, but I won't know until that week.

Good luck, I'll be hoping for calm seas!

Just to let everyone know, I'm still on for Wed. the 9th. It's supposed to be a high of about 40 with 40% chance of rain, but this IS the lowest tide left for the next year. (Low tide at 5:20pm)
Thanks to YOP for providing coords to a suitable parking spot. I'll be at the municipal parking lot 43 32.464 / 70 20.224 at 4:30 or so. Depending on the time, I might be looking for "Maine Seaside Stash" to warm up for the walk.
I hope others get to come out Wed as well, it will be nice to see you!

Plan to see you there. Will throw in my rain gear, almost never rains when I do that. :) Hope a few others will join us. If I don't spot you see ya on the sandbar,time and tide wait for no one. :D

I wish I could make it one of these days. TAT should either up the difficulty or hold these low tides on a Saturday about noon. :rolleyes:

Hey Brdad, you are diabolical enough to build your own sandbar in Bangor. (One of my first caches was Battleship, I'm still waking up in a cold sweat over that one...) :eek:
Wish you could make it too, oh well some other time.

Now all you have to do is find out where the spring tide will be, at noon on saturday.Let's go.:cool:

is easy. Simply go to Hawaii long enough to get over jet lag. Then, come back to Maine very fast. Do not reset your watch. Sunset will apear to be at noon.

Try it. :)

I wish I could make it Wednesday, but there is no way I can get out early for the next few weeks.

Good luck to all!