SS: Britannia Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A easy stroll along Britannia bay to this cache which forms part of the Shipwreck Series. For the series methodology and more info visit SS: Shipwreck Series via the related web page link.
On 30 July 1826 the Britannia - a 460 ton ship captained by William Bouchier, embarked on her journey from England via the Cape of Storms en route to India. Her cargo consisted of copper, stone china crockery, pickled fish, cloth, preserves, ale and cognac, as well as wine loaded in Madeira on the 12th August.
In heavy seas on Sunday the 22nd October 1826 she struck an uncharted reef (today known as Britannia reef), off St. Helena Bay. Captain Bouchier immediately made way to land, where he succeeded in running her ashore on the stretch of beach today known as Britannia Bay. The 16 passengers were all landed in safety. A local farmer, Martin Melck, purchased the wreck, from which he salvaged a considerable quantity of cargo, including sheet copper and wines. For more than a century her valuable treasure laid buried under 4 metres of sand on the bottom of the ocean, not 600 meters from the shore near Shelly Point.
The wreck was subsequently rediscovered in January 1998 by Charles and Karen Shapiro with the help of Anton Kriel and Anet McLeod of Britannia Bay. The remains of the wreck and cargo were very well preserved under the sand. Artifacts recovered from the wreck, under supervision of the National Monuments council, range from full bottles of wine and ale, various stoneware jars containing jellies and jams to valuable porcelain crockery dating from 1804 and 1820 and lead crystal glassware.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Sebag yrsg cbfg bs gur frira cynax fgrc