In 1835 John Pascoe Fawkner financed a trip to mainland Australia from what was then called Van Diemen's Land. His party entered Port Phillip and up the Yarra River to found a settlement which became the city of Melbourne.
One reminder of his trip is a navigation and weather beacon out in the middle of the bay which has been named after him. This beacon is sited along the edge of the main shipping channel and is clearly distinguishable from ordinary channel markers by the large structure built on it. This structure is a weather station which takes observations and transmits them back to the Bureau of Meterology for publication and distribution.
This location is also a favorite waypoint for yachties and fishos out on the bay.
To claim this cache you need to do two things...
1) Take a photo of yourself near to this beacon. I will accept photos taken from up to 500m away which covers you for cruise boats and ferries that travel up and down (or close to) the main shipping channel. It needs to be a current photo - photos from before the cache was published don't count. Telephoto shots from the beach do not count either.
NOTE: Shipping rules of the road stipulate that vessels travel on the right hand side of the channel. This puts a boat close to the 'green' poles on the outbound trip and the 'red' poles on the inbound. You will be furthest from the beacon when outbound, and it may prove difficult to get the required selfie.
2. Take a screenshot or extract from the Bureau of Meterology web site that shows the latest weather observations taken from the beacon. For obvious reasons, the conditions on the web site need to match the conditions in your photo! The BOM website can be found at www.bom.gov.au, and the Fawkner Beacon observations are product number IDV60901. Your screenshot/extract should show every parameter recorded by the station - even if there is no data available at the time. (e.g. At the time of cache publication, Temperature was listed but not available.)
OPTIONAL: 3. There is a connection from Fawkners original ship to one currently based out of Melbourne. See if you can figure out what it is. (Posting the answer with your log would be a spoiler, so drop me an email when you know the answer.)
Non-compliant logs will be deleted.
WARNING: This trip could be hazardous if you attempt this in a small craft. Pease be sensible and adjust your plans to suit the conditions and your capabilities.
The difficulty rating for this cache is based on a relatively comfortable (and safe) yacht/powerboat trip. A cruise ship with a glass of wine makes the trip easier, and a kayak trip is hardcore.
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.