OP
That is in the plans for sometime later this year. One of my buddies collects nautical stuff. The rest of us are just in it for the challenge.
Artifact hunting
- Thread starter Cave Diver
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That is in the plans for sometime later this year. One of my buddies collects nautical stuff. The rest of us are just in it for the challenge.
diverberr
Contributor
If they're modern type ship anchors, they are worth a lot of money. Given the size you mentioned, these anchors could be up to several tons and worth several thousand dollars apiece.
However, recovery is not so easy unless you have a barge and crane available ( my preferred recovery method), and even then, you still don't have a definite position.
If you can't get your hands on a mag, you're probably SOL, as with no vis, and no definite position, a towed diver search is out of the question. A mag or towed metal detector are definitely your best bets here.
Any that we've found have been by chance, then you can mark the position and go back later with a small barge. The biggest one we've found is about 10 feet high, a plow type oil rig anchor with about 500' of 2" chain attached. It was lost when the rig broke loose in our harbour and was never recovered. We haven't gotten that one yet, but it's in the works.
Usually, in a strong current, a hollow will form around them, so your anchors may be sitting visible above the bottom unless the bottom is terribly soupy. It's just possible (though unlikely), that you may locate them with an echo sounder because of this. It still requires a great amount of luck in actually being able to pass directly above them, but you'd see (or at least feel) them when you went down.
See you on the bottom,
Al.
However, recovery is not so easy unless you have a barge and crane available ( my preferred recovery method), and even then, you still don't have a definite position.
If you can't get your hands on a mag, you're probably SOL, as with no vis, and no definite position, a towed diver search is out of the question. A mag or towed metal detector are definitely your best bets here.
Any that we've found have been by chance, then you can mark the position and go back later with a small barge. The biggest one we've found is about 10 feet high, a plow type oil rig anchor with about 500' of 2" chain attached. It was lost when the rig broke loose in our harbour and was never recovered. We haven't gotten that one yet, but it's in the works.
Usually, in a strong current, a hollow will form around them, so your anchors may be sitting visible above the bottom unless the bottom is terribly soupy. It's just possible (though unlikely), that you may locate them with an echo sounder because of this. It still requires a great amount of luck in actually being able to pass directly above them, but you'd see (or at least feel) them when you went down.
See you on the bottom,
Al.
OP
They should be fairly modern, possibly several years old. And yes, we do have a barge/crane set up at our disposal. Unfortunately, no mag. Recovering them will probably turn out to be easier than finding them.
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Several thousand dollars? Hehehe, good luck. You'll never get enough to pay for renting the truck to haul them. That's true here, maybe not where you are but I'd check before investing much time or money.
Tom
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If you want them badly enough, mags can be rented. Do a google searh on "magnetometer rental".
Tom
diverberr
Contributor
Tom,
Guess the market's different in Florida mate. We've gotten as much as $9500 (Can.) for a big one with chain. That's about $5800 (USD). It helps to have a barge at your disposal without a rental fee though.
Al.
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Wow!
If I thought I could get anywhere near that I'd buy a barge and go into the business of anchor hunting!
Did you sell to a shipping company for re-use, a hotel (or whatever) for display, or a scrap company? Perhaps there's more of a market here than I think.....
Tom
diverberr
Contributor
There's actually a company here that will buy anchors, chain, etc., and resells them to shipping companies.
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Interesting. At that rate its damn near worth getting 5 or 6 together and putting them on a train up to you.
OP
Don't forget my 'finders fee' cut for starting this thread and giving you the idea!
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