Vintage anchor recovered from Otonabee
Divers from Fenelon Falls volunteer to search for solar boater’s lost heirloom
When Napanee solar boater Phil Boyer was forced to cut the rope attached to a vintage anchor once owned by his father after it became stuck in the Otonabee River late last month, he never thought he’d see the valuable piece of family history again.
He was travelling the Trent Severn Waterway from Trenton to Georgian Bay in his handmade, solar-powered boat when he last dropped the stockless, or patent, anchor near the Bensfort Bridge to be interviewed by The Examiner.
When Fenelon Falls scuba divers Quinton Smith and Jinna Best learned of the sentimental loss, they offered to attempt to recover the anchor pro bono – an effort they executed relatively quickly on Tuesday afternoon.
The 10-pound weight will soon be back in the hands of the grateful man who completed a 16-day, 542-kilometre journey from Trenton to Georgian Bay and back to Washago. Boyer’s cousin, who lives in the city, will complete the reunion.
“I never thought I would get it back. It’s really exciting,” Boyer said Wednesday after learning about the successful recovery effort.
The divers, connected with The Examiner by Highway 7-based business Adventure Divers, couldn’t have been happier with the result.
“I’m glad we could recover it for him,” Best said as the pair packed up their gear from where they entered the water at the Bensfort Bridge Resort.
Smith, being ex-military, particularly understood the significance of the heirloom. “That was for sure worth the effort. I’m just glad it was a success.”
It wasn’t until after the story about his journey was published that The Examiner learned about the anchor’s interesting history.
It was one of two found by Boyer’s father near the edge of Niagara Falls, around 1964, when he worked for Ontario Hydro. Crews were building a cofferdam upstream to divert flow from the Horseshoe Falls.
When water was diverted at night, crews could walk out onto large portions of the riverbed that would normally be covered with raging water. They found all kinds of valuable artifacts, including relics from the War of 1812.
Who knows how the anchors got there, Boyer said, pointing out how they could be from boats that went over the falls – unoccupied or not.
The first anchor was lost years ago by Boyer’s brother in Lake Muskoka when he forgot to tie the other end of the line to their boat. After not using the second anchor for decades, the life-long boating enthusiast brought it along on his recent journey, for nostalgic reasons.
He doesn’t know much about it, other than it has the word “Navy” on its base and a symbol that looks like an intertwined “C” and “W” on it.
After wrapping up his Examiner interview Aug. 23, Boyer struggled for more 20 minutes to recover the anchor, pulling the rope and maneuvering his boat in an effort to free it.
Smith said the anchor was hooked on one of several underwater power lines that sit on the river bottom. It was snagged in 14 feet of water about 20 feet offshore. The divers found the anchor after searching for about 20 minutes.
Visibility was about five feet in Tuesday’s dull conditions, Best said, pointing out they would have found the anchor even sooner had it not been overcast.
It was the first recovery dive for the partners, whose biggest concern was the possibility of not being able to locate the anchor.
Smith’s parents, who live in the area, watched the effort unfold with great interest. He also pulled some zebra mussel-encrusted glass bottles and a small, bell-style boat anchor from the river, for good measure.
It was a great experience, Smith said, pointing out how he is looking for a new career and how learning to dive may create new opportunities for him.
As for Boyer, he plans to upload a video documenting his Trent Severn journey to Youtube within the next week.
He didn’t quite complete the loop back as he initially hoped, mainly because he didn’t want to repeat crossing Lake Simcoe in bad water. A storm sent water surging across his bow during his first pass. “I was saying my prayers.”
The best part of the trip was the people Boyer met, including Royal Navy veteran Steve Chard who kayaked the waterway as part of a 15-month journey on The Great Loop. They got to know each other as they travelled together for about five days.
“It was all about the people I met along the way,” Boyer said.
NOTE: For more information on Phil Boyer's journey or his boat, visit his Youtube channel at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=rPLBjTPRVkY