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Old 03-06-2023, 14:24   #1
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What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

Over the years, our anchors have picked up various bits and pieces which kept us from setting our anchor: a coral log, with the chain fancifully draped around it; a pair of board shorts; a beach towel; a no longer used mooring cable, with concrete block attached; a bunch of cable (in an anchorage in use for hundreds of years stuff gets tossed out.

Remembering all of this made me ask the question that is the title of the thread. The strangest thing we ever picked up was a discarded stainless steel double sink, with sideboards.

Ann
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Old 03-06-2023, 14:32   #2
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

We have picked up the typical cable and mooring lines. We brought up a huge crab once, still alive and it jumped off once out of the water. The grossest was a big wad of toilet paper! Pretty sure it was quite fresh since it hadn't really degraded.
Once while diving the anchor I encountered 3 nurse sharks laying on the bottom. As I approached, they swam away. As soon as they started to move I saw a flash of silver, one had been laying on a table spoon! So I picked it up, it now sits in our tableware drawer.
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Old 03-06-2023, 14:44   #3
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

The nurse sharks, that's really neat. We found a Chicago Steel steak knife on the bottom, one time. I imagine probably got chucked accidentally with the dishwater. It became our outdoor knife.

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Old 03-06-2023, 15:16   #4
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

Back in the days when the CQR was the best anchor going, I dragged in 5-kt current off Angel Island, SF Bay. I picked up not one but two abandoned anchor rodes. Was quite a mess. One was a fairly fresh Fortress that I still have.

I'm reminded of a spy-vs-spy story where the Americans were trying to find and tap into a Russian communications cable on a military base in Russia's eastern (Siberian) area. Goal was to send a silent submarine into the bay but they were having trouble locating the cable. Finally, after analyzing dozens of satellite photos, someone finally noticed shore-side signs alerting "NO ANCHORING - BURIED CABLE." Problem solved......
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Old 03-06-2023, 15:24   #5
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

Picked up a old crab trap with what is locally known as a "Numb Ray" still very alive. Numb rays can give quite a severe electric shock, enough to make you numb!
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Old 03-06-2023, 15:34   #6
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

When on-call for the sea rescue group, we got a call that a ~40 ft teak hulled sailing boat was drifting towards across the bay towards an old disused wooden jetty. That is jetty used to have a railway tracks on it, serving big sailing ships that docked there, but was in very poor state of repair with rotten timbers, big bolts and nails sticking out.

We got along side with the rescue boat, I climbed on board the boat, saw that there was an anchor chain out. I hauled that in (by hand), and ...... the plough anchor had a crabnet on its pointy end. The point piercing the bottom of the net by 10 cm (4") or so.
No wonder the anchor did not hold when the winds increased.

Made fast a towline, and towed the sailing boat to a good mooring, damage was minimal. Owner was happy, and we became good friends.

Here is a pic of such crabnet, as such nets might not be known in all readers here.
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Old 03-06-2023, 16:07   #7
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

Well, I didn't actually pick it up, but my anchor got stuck once off the coast of Spain and my buddy dove down to see how to get it free. The chain had wrapped around an old 19th century cannon mostly buried in the sand...

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Old 03-06-2023, 17:12   #8
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

I have picked up a fishing rod and reel in Pittwater. I stripped it down cleaned it up and used it for years.
Hank on the Water the same thing happened to a friend of mine here in Tin Can Bay. His boat ended up on the beach and when we pulled the anchor up there was a crab pot wrapped around it.
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Old 03-06-2023, 17:23   #9
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

On the other hand I hooked an old buried one of those crab traps once ... and the holding power of one of them after it has been buried by a few inches of mud is phenomenal. I nearly didn't get my anchor back.
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Old 03-06-2023, 17:29   #10
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

A HUMAN SKULL!!!


Just kidding, someone had to say it.
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Old 03-06-2023, 18:47   #11
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

A white boiler suit covered with enough dried red paint ( antifouling? ) on it to make the frd hand think they had picked up a corpse.
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Old 03-06-2023, 18:49   #12
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

I was anchored in Nassau, New providence island one time.

Next to me was quite a large British boat trying to haul up his anchor. He could get the Anchor chain straight up and down, but could not dislodge his anchor.

Other cruisers rallied around to assist.

After much struggle and various ingenious ways, we managed to get the anchor to just 3-5' below the surface of the water.

Imagine our surprise to see that the anchor had entwined itself around the rear axle of a big truck.

We finally devised a way to bring the axle to the surface of the water, where the anchor was finally dislodged, before we sent the axle back into the dark deep depths.

The entire adventure took most of all day, with some 20 odd sailors involved.
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Old 03-06-2023, 18:50   #13
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

We had sailed our boat with our Rocna 40 anchor for several years, and never dragged. At 2AM (always, right?) in the Bahamas the anchor alarm goes off as we move along. In the pitch black we pull the anchor up, and motor forward, and drop again. Immediately we start to drag. WTF? In a clear sand bottom?

We pull up again, and this time my bow crew turns on her headlamp to have a look... at the outboard motor speared on the tip of our anchor. A few well placed kicks, and off it goes, reset, and we sleep well for the rest of the night.
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Old 04-06-2023, 00:32   #14
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

I was in an anchorage in San Diego waiting a few days for my friend to fly in to go down to Mexico. One morning, I'm watching my neighbors struggling trying to raise there anchor. I'm guessing they were dragging. I got the binocs out for a better look. Eventually they hauled up a shopping cart and someones crutch. It was pretty funny. I dinghyed into town to do some shopping at Downwind Marine and saw the couple from the other boat. Having never met them, I started the conversation with..."I am anchored where you guys are and have lost my shopping cart and crutches off my anchored boat. Let me know if you happen to see them". They looked astonished for about 5 seconds but I could not hold back a smile and let therm in on the joke.
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Old 04-06-2023, 00:49   #15
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Re: What's The Strangest Thing Your Anchor Picked Up?

Quote:
Originally Posted by SailingHarmonie View Post
We had sailed our boat with our Rocna 40 anchor for several years, and never dragged. At 2AM (always, right?) in the Bahamas the anchor alarm goes off as we move along. In the pitch black we pull the anchor up, and motor forward, and drop again. Immediately we start to drag. WTF? In a clear sand bottom?

We pull up again, and this time my bow crew turns on her headlamp to have a look... at the outboard motor speared on the tip of our anchor. A few well placed kicks, and off it goes, reset, and we sleep well for the rest of the night.
See this is where the crew or skipper didn't think ahead. If you haul it aboard, using another halyard, at least someone else won't have to fuss with it at a later date. Please don't take this as a criticism, because we didn't think of it with the mooring that bent the Bruce's fluke. One just wants to get rid of the d--n thing. But, in our case, it would have been possible to tow it off the bow, into such shallow water that most vessels could not get to it again. And we didn't happen to think of it till a few minutes later.

I wouldn't be surprised if there were quite a number of dunked o/b's on the bottom. Probably most wouldn't be reparable. But how do you know at first glance if it weren't? rust would be a good indicator.

Ann
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