A large anchor, possibly dating back to the 19th century, was pulled out of the outer Edgartown harbor late Tuesday afternoon. Donald Benefit, an Edgartown conch fisherman who found the anchor, raised it from the waters between the Edgartown and Cape Pogue Lighthouses. It was too heavy to lift out of the water, so he towed it to the town dock, where boat and anchor spent the night.

On Wednesday morning, with the help of a crane operated by Mr. Benefit’s brother in law, Eddie Smith, the seven-and-a-half-foot anchor was lifted out of the water by the Edgartown Yacht Club.

Mr. Benefit, a longtime waterman, said he had been fishing around the anchor for several days and lost at least three conch pots to it. “Each conch pot costs me $50,” he said. Mr. Benefit operates a Nova Scotia-style 36-foot Beal diesel powerboat called Payback.

Fetching line and losing conch pots upset him, Mr. Benefit said, so he decided to put a thicker line on the mystery item and pull it up, to see what it was.

The anchor was in water about 36 feet deep, just east of what is called the gas buoy, more formally known as the lit R6 buoy. The spot used to be an anchorage for whaling ships, Mr. Benefit said. “In those days, they’d wait out until they could come into the harbor,” he said.

As the anchor came out of the water, pieces of seaweed and debris fell off. Parts of it were bright rust red, others dark green. Beneath the corrosion the anchor was as black as coal. There was sea life all over it; quarterdeck shells clung to the ends, the shank and fluke. Mr. Benefit found a separate manila line on it, which he thought meant someone else had tried to raise the anchor and failed.

After closer examination, Mr. Benefit said it looked as if the anchor had been forged by hand. Where one of the flukes was corroded, Mr. Benefit said he could tell how the iron was assembled, through the use of heat and a hammer. He wondered what it had looked like prior to spending a century corroding on the bottom. “It must have been a good deal heavier,” he said.

Mr. Benefit said when he got the anchor home, he would wash it off, dry it and eventually brush it with linseed oil. He had been warned not to paint it. As Mr. Smith’s crane held the anchor aloft, Mr. Benefit told onlookers he thought he might put Christmas lights on it.

Mr. Benefit said he was grateful to his brother in law for his help.

Mr. Smith said the last time the captain called on him was the week prior, to move a shed.

Mr. Benefit said he recovered his missing three conch pots.