Dear Boat Doctor,

I just bought a new-to-me Baba 40. I love the boat and have spent lots of time cleaning it up and just making it mine. It came with a nice Bruce anchor, one of the original well-built ones. I really like the anchor but it could look better, it’s pretty rusty. Can I have it galvanized or can I paint it?

Howard Henderson

Cape May, New Jersey

Dear Howard,

Anchors lead tough, thankless lives getting beaten around on the bottom and exposed to a lots of saltwater, so it’s no surprise that they get rusty. The rust doesn’t impact the performance of the anchor, but I understand your desire to have a nice looking anchor.

Start by sandblasting the anchor, which will remove all the rust and dirt leaving a nice toothy surface for a coating. You can take the anchor somewhere to have this done or there may be do-it-yourself places in your area where you can do your own blasting.

Spade Anchor USA (www.spadeanchorusa.com, 321-409-5714) sells an anchor refinishing kit that is basically a high-grade two-part epoxy-based paint system with corrosion resistant additives for $89. You can brush or roll it on to your anchor and get a new uniform grey coating on the anchor.