Anchor Secure

Right after we bought our boat, the anchor was stolen, even though our marina was "secure" behind a six-foot chain-link fence. It probably was a sightseer who took the anchor. No other boat in the marina showed up with a shiny new, 33-pound Bruce. At about $10 per pound perhaps I should have kept it in the ice box. I had secured the pin in the shackle with heavy, stiff stainless wire. I passed several strands of wire through the hole in the pin and around the body of the shackle. This was done to prevent the pin from working out accidentally. The shackle connected the anchor to about 30 feet of 5/16-inch chain.

I thought this set-up would stop any thief, but it didn't. The bow of my boat was just about even with the pier so the thief didn't have to reach far. He or she just cut the wire and unscrewed the shackle pin. I installed the next anchor with the same securing wire and shackle. This time I put a dollop of epoxy glue on the threads of the pin. Now there are two different techniques that can be used to detach the anchor from the chain. One requires a hacksaw, the other, a propane torch. At about 400° F the glue will soften and the pin can be unscrewed. At first I was a little concerned that I had made the anchor too secure. But since securing the shackle pin, I've never needed to remove it.