Sentence:  The chaps who had gone off in the cutter had been equally spry with their job, bending on a stout hemp hawser through the ring of the <WSD>kedge</WSD> anchor, which they dropped some half a cable's length from the brig, bringing back the other end aboard, where it was put round the capstan on the forecastle. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  A small anchor used for warping a vessel; (kedge anchor).