Unseen Heroes Multi-cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache is not at the posted coordinates, but the concrete blocks used as the central mooring are.
In order to find the cache coordinates you need to visit the location of two submarine wrecks in Aberlady Bay, you may find some of the answers on internet photos but not enough to find the cache and besides, you wouldn’t want to miss this walk, would you?
Given the clue location you will need to pay close attention to the tide tables in order to avoid being caught by a rising tide with the accompanying unpleasant consequences, which is why I have given the cache a terrain rating of 4, don’t get me wrong, it’s a cracking good walk and you should have plenty of time to loiter at the subs answering the clues.Tide times are available on the BBC weather website.
The two submarine wrecks are “XT” or training versions of the famous World War 2 X-craft midget submarines which, each manned by a crew of four attacked the German pocket battleship Tirpitz as it lay at anchor in a Norwegian fjord causing sufficient damage to keep the warship out of the war for a considerable time. The Tirpitz was later sunk during an attack by the RAF using tallboy bombs dropped from Lancaster bombers.
In 1946 these two submarines were disposed of by mooring them in Aberlady Bay to be used as gunnery targets by the RAF so not all the deterioration is by the action of wind and wave, however one of the wrecks is clearly in much better condition than the other.
There are two possible routes into the area, one (between 7 and 7.5km round trip) is through the wildlife reserve giving the eagle-eyed the opportunity to spot the roe deer which inhabit the area as well as numerous wildfowl but as no dogs are allowed there, I prefer parking at Gullane Bents car park and walking in via the beach (approx 6km round trip), admiring the expanding panorama of The Firth of Forth on the way you may also wish to visit three other caches (GCWGQ4, GC18KCH and GCHBZD) around the bay at the same time.
To find the final location you need the answers to the following
How many blocks were used as the mooring? = A
Both subs are lying on their side, the same side in both cases, what side (in nautical terms) is up? Number of letters= B
Number of short metal posts sticking up out of the bottom layer of blocks (May be partially submerged at one end) = C
Number of fins (rudder/dive planes etc) sticking up out of the water at the southern sub =D
Number of part open personnel access hatches on southern wreck =E
Checksum = 20
Final location is at N 56° 0D.(A-C)(C+D)E
W002° 5(C-D).(D+E)(B-D)C
Cache clues modified 21/3/2010 after Haggis Hunter's visit brought to light the changes due to tidal action, I would appreciate any future visitors letting me know if modifications are needed due to sand buildup or removal.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Pnpure'f yhzc