Tour operator gets surprise catch in Charlottetown Harbour

A lobster fisherman who offers boat tours on the Charlottetown Harbour got more than he bargained for recently, when he pulled up a trap to find it tangled with a massive anchor.

Mark Jenkins of Top Notch Lobster Tours was pulling up a trap he uses to teach tourists about the industry, when the surprise occurred.

"It slowly came to the surface and I thought it was a huge rock, so I got my brother Cody to look over and he said 'That's not a rock, that's gigantic anchor,'" said Jenkins. "We've been putting that trap in that same spot for the last nine years and this year we hooked the anchor."

The anchor was too big for them to haul up themselves, so they marked it with a buoy.

A diver went down for a closer look, and eventually they were able to drag it to shore, where a boom truck lifted it to the surface.

"It was kind of nerve-racking because you were scared that maybe it was so heavy that the rope might break," said Jenkins, "and then it will be lost again pretty well forever because once the sea takes it, you're not going to get it back again."

Now the Jenkins family has the anchor in their backyard.

Mark Jenkins has sent photos to an expert at the Maritime Museum in Halifax, hoping to find out more about their new treasure, including its age.

"From the pictures ... online at least somewhere in the 1800s probably, so it's been in the water for a couple of hundred years I'd say," Jenkins offered.

Big and smelly

The family is getting advice on how to properly care for their discovery, and hopefully get rid of the smell from its time in the ocean.

Smelly or not, finding the anchor has been an adventure for them.

"It was very interesting and I'm excited to see where it's from," said Jenkins. "I've been fishing for 25 years and that's the coolest thing I ever found. So it was kind of treasure for us. And for the couple of weeks before we got it out of the water, we couldn't wait. It was kind of exciting to see actually how big it was and how old it's going to be."

The next decision is where the anchor goes next.

"I'd like to find out where it's from and the history of it all and if my mother wants it, I'd like to see it in her front yard for sure," said Jenkins.

The family is hoping to find out more about the anchor in the next couple of weeks.

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