Where do anchors go to die?

The way we all revere our anchors, it seems that they deserve a proper place to go when their time has come. What have you done with yours?

I have a Danforth anchor that began its life serving two different sailboats over many years in CA., became the day anchor on two of my ski boats on many years of trips to the Delta, then moved to MI where it became the lunch anchor on Great Laker and has almost completed the Great Loop.

This anchor is still functioning well, but eventually will be retired. What happens to it then? It deserves something better than rusting behind the garage or ending up in a dumpster.

Anchors don't seem to sell well on craigslist, maybe because so many boaters are hung up on getting the "latest" and "best" to hang on the bow. If you are creative, maybe you could turn it into a coffee table or lamp base?

How about a national anchor graveyard?

Lawn ornament? then it could rust in front of the garage instead of behind.

Interesting... "tiptoe through the tulips, around the anchor in the tulips"

I like it, but I doubt my wife would.

I have nine anchors.

Only one has gone to the landfill. When we left Alaska and I was packing up the container I thought about my first XYZ anchor. I decided I had no more use for an anchor that I was hardly ever able to set.

When we went up the coast in the Willard there was a 50 knot gale forecast. We had the 13lb Danforth and the 13lb XYZ. Managed to get the XYZ set good and we rode out the gale. A day and a half of screaming wind and Willy's bow jerking back and forth sail'in as Willy likes to do that.

I used the XYZ several times after that but it still had a big problem setting. So I decided to huck it with a lot of other stuff at the Thorne Bay dump.

Perhaps I'll make a rockery out of most of the rest as their time runs out.

I'm going to do an experiment on a Claw and my 18lb Manson Supreme.

Probably should'nt have bought the 35lb Danforth and Dreadnought. The Dreadnought is the fastest setting anchor I've got though. However don't think I'd be inclined to use it in a gale. A couple at our boat yard just set off for Alaska again on their 50' steel boat and still the anchor on their bow is a Navy Anchor. The same Navy Anchor that was on their bow over 10 years ago. Not terribly large either. He also has no windshield wipers. Says "I don't need'um". He dosn't. I know because we don't have them either. Would be nice though. Perhaps it has someth'in to do w his steel hull. A log went BOOM .. on our FG hull once And no damage resulted. We T boned a full sized Humpback whale once and that didn't damage the Willard either. Sure stopped fast though.

manyboats said:

Managed to get the XYZ set good and we rode out the gale. A day and a half of screaming wind and Willy's bow jerking back and forth sail'in as Willy likes to do that.

I used the XYZ several times after that but it still had a big problem setting. So I decided to huck it with a lot of other stuff at the Thorne Bay dump.

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So the XYZ protected you in a gale and you condemned it to a dump? Have you ever regretted that?

Sell it for scrap metal. If I recall correctly I got something like $3 for an old fisherman's anchor that I couldn't sell or give away. Not a lot of money, but better than cluttering up a landfill with it. At least this way it will get melted down and made into something else.

Strangely I have sold five anchors in the last 10 years. One on ebay, two at a SSCA gam and two over cruisers nets in the Caribbean. Never thought of sending one to a dumpster.

eseyoung said:

Lawn ornament? then it could rust in front of the garage instead of behind.

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I have one of those. Look closely behind the flower box and below the gas grill.

Jleonard, can't see it.

Bay Pelican I like your style. It never occurred to you an old anchor would be worthless. Any product in good working order is as good as it was when it was made. I think the Dreadnought was created about 100 years ago during the time of the Dreadnought battleships of WWI and I'll bet named after them. I saw a Northill anchor at the used marine store a few days ago and it definitely had been used. They must be quite good as the Canadian fishermen really like them. After all in the 1700s anchors had wood stocks and were state of the art or "new generation" anchors at the time.

DenverdOn,
Scrap metal when no longer serviceable of course. A little effort and they become new anchors like a Mantus.

Great Laker,
Oh yes I must have had a heartless moment. But I felt like Marin and his Bruce. He wouldn't sell me the Bruce and a few days ago I gave up and bought one. Same size. It may be better than his as it's not a Bruce. It's a Lewmar. I actually do have a very small tinge of guilt re the old XYZ.

manyboats said:

Oh yes I must have had a heartless moment. But I felt like Marin and his Bruce. He wouldn't sell me the Bruce and a few days ago I gave up and bought one. Same size. It may be better than his as it's not a Bruce. It's a Lewmar. I actually do have a very small tinge of guilt re the old XYZ.

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I tend to personalize my anchors. When they do well I like and praise them, and when not I curse them unmercilessly. So having guilt for them certainly makes sense.

Anchors are a bit like fishing lures. A lure will only catch fish if it is used properly and fish are present. An anchor can only hook up if the bottom conditions and setting are correct. If a lure doesn't catch a fish, it is considered bad, regardless if fish are there or not. If an anchor drags, it too is considered bad, whether or not it is appropriate for the condition.

Both are sold to people who will likely never see them in action and the purchase decision is based upon word of mouth, salesmanship and perceived features.

Neither are discarded as you "may need it someday" or is given or sold to some one else.

Sell an anchor? Never. Most of them I lose, end up on the bottom in a thousand fathoms.

Ghostrider42 said:

Sell an anchor? Never. Most of them I lose, end up on the bottom in a thousand fathoms.

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When I was anchored in Nassau harbor (Bahamas) a few years ago, my anchor would not come up for love nor money, so I put on my scuba gear and dove it. Turns out there is a large cable which runs along the bottom, and I was hooked on it. No problem, of course -- just flipped it off. But while I was down there I must have seen a half dozen abandoned anchors (really clear water!) on the bottom. Probably some really interesting stories behind each of them!

Marin uses a 10 kg Bruce for a door stop. I know where there are 3 very good ones in an immersed slot canyon at Lake Powell.

We have several used as decorations, some just lying around, but I should list them in the classifieds and find them a good home.

Pura Vida said:

We have several used as decorations, some just lying around, but I should list them in the classifieds and find them a good home.

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Don't bother listing them, just send a PM to manyboats and tell him how many you are willing to sell him

I've got a small CQR in my garage, a remnant of sailing days.

The aft lazarette.

When I retired my CQR for a Super Sarca it propped up the fence at home for several years, then one day I noticed the old woody next to me had an old and quite small CQR, which was so rusty you could see daylight through the flukes in several places. So as mine was a better weight for him, and would work quite well where he frequented, and as he had a good winch capable of much heavier, I offered it to him for a bottle of plonk. He was so impressed with it he left me four…that went well...

Thought that I would plow into this thread. It might be just a fluke, but I have noticed that anchors don't die, they just slip aweigh.

:lol::lol::lol:

ulysses,
It's 0820hrs here and too early for that kind of humor. We'll have to read that one again tonight while sipping our rum!

There may be a boating related flea market in your area. West Marine hosts one every spring and I think every fall in my town. Pay $5 for a spot (it goes to charity) and sell all your unwanted boating stuff.

Or advertise it at your marina.