P.E.I. scallop fisherman hooks more than he bargained for: 1-tonne anchor

Charles Doull knew his scallop draghooked on to something big, but even he, a seasoned fisherman, was surprised to discover it was a massive anchor that's "got tobe well over 100 years old."

I remember the first diver that came up, he said 'you wouldn't believe.- Charles Doull

Doull was about 20 minutes out to sea off Borden-Carleton on Thursday when his drag, a device used to scoop the shellfish from ocean floor, hooked on to something big. At the time, he didn't know it was an anchor.

But he knew it was very, very heavy.

"We hoisted it up as much as we could and I could see there was no way, it would just haul the boat down into the water," he said.

"There was another fisherman not too far away, I told him, 'keep an eye on us because we're kind of in a mess here.'"

After unsuccessfully trying to dislodge "whatever it was," he unhooked his drag and cables, left them at the bottom of the oceanand headed back to shore.

Divers came to help

On Friday, divers from Charlottetown went down to survey the situation.

"I remember the first diver that came up, he said 'you wouldn't believe,''' Doull recalled.

"It's a great, big anchor. It's massive."

The divers were able to hook the boat's cables to the anchor and Doull towed it to shore. He used his father's truck to tow it to land in what he describes as "an ordeal."

The anchor is about two metres high and estimated to weigh more than 1,000 kilograms, or a metric tonne.

"I didn't really imagine it was going to be that big," Doull said.

Now, he is trying to decide what to do with the anchor.

Doull already had some offers to buy it, he said, but his wife wants to get it sandblasted and painted, and put it on their front lawn for everyone to enjoy.

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