LITTLE CURRENT—An 1,843-kilogram Danforth style anchor was returned to the deck of the cruise ship Pearl Mist after being recovered from the waters of the North Channel last month.
It is believed that the errant anchor slipped its bonds when a v-clamp failed on retrieval.
Local cruise ship excursion company operator Bruce O’Hare dropped by The Expositor office to provide a comment on the return of the anchor.
“It seems the anchor somehow washed up on shore near Boyle Marine,” he said straight-faced. “Oddly, the craziest thing, it had mysteriously wound up with a new paintjob featuring the Canadian flag.”
The mystery of the anchor’s new clothes might have been explained by the interest shown in the proceedings by the presence of Little Current commercial artist Andrea Liban, who admitted to The Expositor that the Canadian flag motif was indeed her handiwork.
Local swimmer Gord Keatley, of Keatley Surveying Ltd., noted that he had observed the anchor lying below the surface of the North Channel in about 25 feet of water sometime before the anchor found itself onshore and that he had pointed the location out to Brian and Pat Boyle, of Boyle Marine in Little Current, and Jason Hughson.
Thanks to Mr. Hughson’s innovative forklift, which was able to get close to the shoreline where the anchor had mysteriously washed up, the massive piece of nautical equipment was moved to a location where a crane from Joly’s Equipment Service and Supply of Little Current was able to lift the wandering anchor back home aboard the visiting cruise ship.
The operation attracted a small crowd of onlookers.
