Recently, while at anchor in Malta, a nearby boater could not retrieve their anchor because they had dropped it onto some rocks in about six meters of water. After watching them, or rather their windlass, struggle to raise the anchor and then one of their crew snorkel down and resurface proclaiming that there was no way to recover the anchor, I suggested a method to do it.
I thought this was a fairly well known technique, but after conversations with other cruisers, I have come to realize that it is not. The gist of the method is to get a line down to the base of the anchor shank and draw the anchor away from the obstruction. The simplest way to do it is as follows. Use a rope that is at least twice as long as the depth of the water, double it in half and attach a weight to the bight. Place the anchor rode between the two legs of your retrieval line and let it drop. Then pull the line in the direction away from the obstruction either from a dinghy of by reversing your yacht. If the anchor does not come away, the anchor is fouled more seriously. A quick dive into the water will tell you if your chain is wrapped around something or reveal why it will not come free.
If you do not have a long enough rope to double it, a shorter one that reaches down to the bottom with a large enough bowline loop to slip over the shank and down to the anchor flukes will also work. Just tie the loop around the rode and attach the weight to the loop.
When I did this for our Maltese neighours, the anchor came free within seconds and they were duly impressed. Earlier that day we had sold a spare anchor to another boater who had lost his anchor in the rocks the day before. Too bad I was not around then, because I could have saved him fifty euros.
