Historic Anchor Unearthed off Amagansett Beach

Dory men hauled in much more than they bargained for on Wednesday morning: a large, old anchor.

Danny Lester, his brother, Paul Lester, and Nat Miller dragged up the anchor off of Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett, getting it to shore with the help of lifeguards.

Jeff Thompson, an assistant chief lifeguard, said the anchor is mainly made up of iron, but the crush bar is wooden, hand-hewn and splinted. He did some research online and believes it is a vessel's anchor from the mid-1850s, known as a Rodgers Anchor.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Thompson said.

"It's pretty neat," Danny Lester said. "It's also pretty big," he said, estimating that it is about eight feet long and at least 500 pounds in weight. It took four men to pick it up and get it into the back up a pickup truck.

Lester, who comes from a long line of baymen, said he thinks the anchor came off a big schooner and probably used to hang nearby with others that were used during haul-seining.

Superstorm Sandy most likely helped unearthed it from the buried sand, Thompson said.

"Who knows how long it's been down there," Lester said. It got caught in his net, but fell out as they approached the shore.

Lester said the anchor will make a good "front yard ornament" at his house.