Anchor could be 157 years old
An anchor recovered by a cruise ship near Stewart Island could be up to 157 years old.
The mysterious anchor was found in Paterson Inlet last week after it was snagged by the Milford Wanderer.
Real Journeys general manager Paul Norris said the Milford Wanderer had anchored for the night in the area during a five-day cruise and when the crew went to pull up their anchor, the old one hooked to it.
Norris said the initial thought was ‘‘Crikey, that looks a bit old’’.
The crew decided to place the anchor onshore and advise the Department of Conservation about the find.
It is now on the beach at Sydney Cove, Ulva Island.
The roughly 27 guests onboard had been excited and inquisitive about the find, Norris said.
Department of Conservation heritage and visitors senior ranger Dale Chittenden said they were ‘‘not sure exactly where the anchor could have come from, but there are three potential options’’, which were the brig Amherst, Pacific or Cosmopolite.
Amherst lost an anchor and chain in Paterson Inlet overnight on October 31, 1867.
The historic whaling ship Pacific was built in 1825 and sailed around Australia and New Zealand before it eventually got wrecked on pipi rocks.
The Cosmopolite used four anchors and dropped its chains to stop it being dragged around towards the pipi rocks during a hurricane in 1864.
‘‘Either way, it’s a pretty exciting find and an interesting piece of the Island’s history,’’ Chittenden said.
‘‘We’re still working through options for where it’s final resting place could be but in the interim it’s been shifted up off the high tide mark to a safer spot,’’ he said.
Sand has already starting covering the anchor and further work would be required to identify and preserve it.
Beaks & Feathers tour guide Angela Karaitiana stumbled across the anchor with a group of walkers and said it was an exciting find.
The anchor was not there during a morning walk but had showed up before an afternoon walk.
‘‘It was cool. It was like making a discovery,’’ Karaitiana said.
It was not something that would usually be found on the beach and had been an added bonus on the walk, she said.
‘‘. . . it’s a pretty exciting find and an interesting piece of the Island’s history.’’ Dale Chittenden, Department of Conservation heritage and visitors senior ranger