Geocache at Alki? 50feet?

[kdupreez]

We were doing a scooter dive today and we ran into a bizarre square box with stuff inside it??

it was square full of holes and the lid was screwed on with 4 "forged eye bolts" was pertty big in size, I'm guessing about 1.5 feet long/tall/wide..

looked like inside was a slate and some water tight plastic box.. its bolted down into something so you cant pick it up and cant undo the bolts with your bare hands..

does this ring a bell ?

Oh - and it had a tag (aluminum plate) attached to one of the eye-bolts with a piece of steel wire.. but its all corroded and you cant see what it says..

looks kinda like this.. (forgive the skewed crappy iphone picture artist drawing )

[Dusty2]

Hmmmm, Was it ticking??

[citycatred]

It is mostly likely a new geocache since it isn't listed on the main geocaching website so it is probably going to be approved soon. The only registered scuba geocaches in Washington are in Lake Chelan and the one that was at Les Davis.

[kdupreez]

So we went back to the mysterious box today.. Its a concrete box with some holes and inspected it from all sides and was again pretty sure it had a plastic container and a dive slate on the inside..

the tag on the outside was not attached, it just laid there and was pretty crusty with marine growth and I could not make out a word on it.. Also, from what I researched on the internet the previous day, Goecache sites ussually have some "log" to sign and have some surprise in a box that you can swap out and sign your name on the log.. But still, I had NO idea what this was and thought this is probably an underwater GeoCache!

SO.. we decided to open it and take a peek... I took a wrench with and removed the 4 bolts.. the lid came of fairly easy and inside I found a plastic container, a dive slate and some coffee thermos type container.. the slate was completely blank from what I could see and the plastic Tupperware container for sure had something in it.. Hmm. I thought, Slate = Geocache log and tupperware = mysterious trinket.. So we decided we would leave everything else behind and just surface with the tag and the tupperware..

Alas... Within seconds of inspecting the tuppwerware container, we came to the horrid conclusion, this was a an underwater grave site!!! Someone decided to place Grandma's ashes in an urn and stash it an in concrete box and put a few letters in a plastic container... and also put dive slate int the box?

I felt absolutely horrible that my curiosity caused me to disturb someone's grave site.. I am TERRIBLY sorry and intend to take some flowers down and restore the tag and the rest of the site.

Again, Im SOOOOO SORRY and if anyone knows who's ashes are burried at Alki in around 60' of water, please let me know, I would very happily take some video of the site.. It has a gorgeous couple of Plumose Anemones right by it too! What a beautiful place to be laid to rest!

The tag looks like it says "Betty Lou ....." (can not make the rest out) and one of the dates on the tag says "January 27, 2010" (I assume date of death)

please let me know if anyone knows something.. I'm really kinda bumbed that I disturbed it and would very much like to apologize to the family and do a good deed by taking some flowers down and shoot some video for them.

Here is a video of the box.. Out of respect, I removed a piece of video showing the content inside the box..

Koos

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCE9w-XFPYY[/youtube]

PS. And Yes, I know my scoot needs half an ounce moved from the nose to the tail..

[ktb]

Um . . . WTF? Ok, if someone wants their ashes scattered at a dive site, I'm alright with that. As my mother has told me, she would prefer to be fish food when she's done with her body. But "installing" a grave site of sorts at a popular dive site? I do not get this at all. We all grieve in different ways, and wanting to leave a remembrance of some sort is understandable, but don't eff-up the environment or leave something for someone else to discover later, like the baggie earlier this year. This kind of thing is getting ridiculous.

Koos--I'm sorry you got a nasty surprise.

[CaptnJack]

Think is getting rediculous.

[Sounder]

Um . . . WTF? Ok, if someone wants their ashes scattered at a dive site, I'm alright with that. As my mother has told me, she would prefer to be fish food when she's done with her body. But "installing" a grave site of sorts at a popular dive site? I do not get this at all. We all grieve in different ways, and wanting to leave a remembrance of some sort is understandable, but don't eff-up the environment or leave something for someone else to discover later, like the baggie earlier this year. This kind of thing is getting ridiculous.

Koos--I'm sorry you got a nasty surprise.

I completely agree. After a week of hearing about people swimming by the bag on the Honeybear and leaving it there, I stumbled upon it. I indicated to my buddy that I was going to scatter them and she agreed. I did so, said a quick blessing, and then stuffed the bag into my pocket to be disposed of after the dive.

Scattering remains underwater is about the most non-toxic thing you can put down there, and can be a nice gesture. It's also not permanent. When we did Jake's remains, the family waited on shore and Peter shot a bag so they could see and know where and when Lynne and I were scattering them. We pulled the bag down when finished so they'd know it was done before meeting them on shore. Is there a memorial for Jake? Absolutely. It's an AED which was installed with permission from the City and funded through private donations from the NWDC membership. I don't think anyone can argue that placing an AED in memory of someone at the most popular dive site in Seattle is in poor taste.

What I don't agree with is having to see someone's cross in the middle of the cove, and now there is another structure nearby that serves a similar purpose. It's a recreation area. If someone were to start putting makeshift graves and memorials in the middle of a park on land, they'd get removed quickly because people wouldn't care to look at them... I don't get what makes underwater recreation areas any different. It's a public area where I don't think people should have to see your loved one's grave or memorial.

Koos - I don't think you have anything to feel the slightest bit guilty for. It's not like you went to a cemetery and started digging up the "mysterious boxes" that were underground to see what was inside. You were diving, in a public area not intended to be a burial ground, and you found something intriguing. I think your idea of it being a geo cache was about the most reasonable assumption you could have made. Your gestures are certainly kind, but discovering what it was is nothing to feel guilty for. In my opinion it shouldn't be there in the first place.

[doug7377]

Dont feel bad man i think i would have done the same thing if i find it too let me know when you go back down ill go with

[CaptnJack]

What I don't agree with is having to see someone's cross in the middle of the cove, and now there is another structure nearby that serves a similar purpose. It's a recreation area. If someone were to start putting makeshift graves and memorials in the middle of a park on land, they'd get removed quickly because people wouldn't care to look at them... I don't get what makes underwater recreation areas any different. It's a public area where I don't think people should have to see your loved one's grave or memorial.

Private memorial plaques and objects are not allowed in Seattle Parks (I forget the SMC citation and I'm not bothering to look it up). I reported the aluminum cross to Seattle Parks a year+ ago when this Cove2 trend began. They never got back to me.

[Waynne Fowler]

HAHAHA!..... obviously granny liked visitors and the fam knew it so they put her in a place where she'll almost never be too long without one....

Funny!... you know she's crackin up right now from remembering the look on your face when you realized what you were looking at.

[kdupreez]

If someone were to start putting makeshift graves and memorials in the middle of a park on land, they'd get removed quickly because people wouldn't care to look at them... I don't get what makes underwater recreation areas any different. It's a public area where I don't think people should have to see your loved one's grave or memorial.

Yeah, totally agree!! Geez, can you imagine if everyone started burying people wherever they wanted, It'll look like a scene from an episode of a post apocalyptic Buffy show!!

either way, I'll go put the tag back and leave it the way I found it.. I dont want Grandma to come and haunt my ass!

[Sounder]

What I don't agree with is having to see someone's cross in the middle of the cove, and now there is another structure nearby that serves a similar purpose. It's a recreation area. If someone were to start putting makeshift graves and memorials in the middle of a park on land, they'd get removed quickly because people wouldn't care to look at them... I don't get what makes underwater recreation areas any different. It's a public area where I don't think people should have to see your loved one's grave or memorial.

Private memorial plaques and objects are not allowed in Seattle Parks (I forget the SMC citation and I'm not bothering to look it up). I reported the aluminum cross to Seattle Parks a year+ ago when this Cove2 trend began. They never got back to me.

It's out of their sight, so it's out of their mind. If the same thing showed up at Magnuson Park, it'd be gone the next day. If it happened again, there would probably be a news story about it.

Then again, if someone like you or I were to remove it, we'd be looked at as the "bad-actor" because it's a memorial or grave. Once someone attaches emotion to something, all rationality and logic goes out the window.

[Sounder]

either way, I'll go put the tag back and leave it the way I found it.. I dont want Grandma to come and haunt my ass!

I'll take Granny haunting me while I dive ANYTIME over the Blue Gloves of Death.

[Joshua Smith]

Oh, damn, that made me laugh. Koos, don't beat yourself up, buddy. How were you supposed to know that Betty Lou was in there?

[citycatred]

Dude, I'm sorry I told you it was a geocache.....it matched all of the descriptions of an underwater one...I didn't even think that it could be a grave. sorry about that, don't beat yourself up. It's sort of stupid that they placed it at such a popular location.

[ktb]

It's sort of stupid that they placed it anywhere underwater

Fixed that for you.

[CaptnJack]

It's sort of stupid that they placed it anywhere underwater

Fixed that for you.

Underwater or not, who the hell wants to be buried in Tupperware??

[spatman]

Underwater or not, who the hell wants to be buried in Tupperware??

my thoughts exactly. but let's face it, funerals/burials/memorials are for the living, not the deceased.

[CaptnJack]

Underwater or not, who the hell wants to be buried in Tupperware??

my thoughts exactly. but let's face it, funerals/burials/memorials are for the living, not the deceased.

Tupperware probably would last for eternity, if Koos wasn't messing with it! Imagine how long the starfish transducers will last?

[citycatred]

It's sort of stupid that they placed it anywhere underwater

Fixed that for you.

lol thanks Kelly

[kdupreez]

So the tupperware only have "letters to grandma" in it.. the coffee thermos have grandma in it.. I luckily left grandma down there.. but the Tupperware letterbox and the tag is going back before grandma comes lookin for it

[Waynne Fowler]

It's sort of stupid that they placed it anywhere underwater

Fixed that for you.

Underwater or not, who the hell wants to be buried in Tupperware??

Granmama never smelled so fresh....

ewwww... can't believe I typed that.