Setting the Hook…The Anchor Story by Kate ⚓️

February 17, 2026

In the summer of 1978, the Coast Guard transferred the Mitchell family from Ketchikan to Homer. We were grateful to stay in the state we had come to love as our home. Ben was the Chief Bos’n on the USCGC Sedge.

I had a little shop in front of our house in Ketchikan and was anxious to keep the business going.

After the 1964 9.2 earthquake, the Homer Harbor had to be completely rebuilt. The Corps of Engineers sourced rock from Sadie Cove, across Kachemak Bay. They set an anchor buoy for the rock barges to tie up to.

Once the job was done and the site was abandoned, the buoy sank just enough to become a hazard to navigation. The CGC Sedge was tasked with pulling the buoy and anchor. No one claimed it. It was a slimy old anchor taking up space on the boat’s deck. Chief Mitchell thought it would make a great lawn ornament for the house we had just bought.

There it sat for a few years.

We did not leave Homer. When Ben retired from the Coast Guard, we literally set the hook.

When NOMAR moved into downtown Homer, the anchor was moved and incorporated into the sign. It carries a little history of how it came to represent the maritime industry that is such a large part of our business.