New Year Workout

After the Christmas excesses, whilst everyone else seems to be joining gyms and enthusiastically taking up intense fitness programmes, we have found an alternative way of working-out; replacing our anchor chain.

Our old chain definitely needed to be re-galvanised or replaced before we set off. We had 60 metres of 10 millimetre chain but have decided that, because we expect to be anchoring much more often, we should increase that. Despite the extra weight we have gone for 100 metres of 10 millimetre chain.

100 metres of chain weighs around 230 kilogrammes. After removing the old 60 metres of chain, lugging the new chain down to the pontoon and laying it out to mark the lengths, our muscles were definitely telling us that we had been moving over a third of a ton of steel.

We have spliced the chain to 50 metres of thick octoplait rope. The combined 150 metres of anchor chain and warp will allow us to anchor safely in up to about 35 metres depth of water. They somewhat fill the anchor locker but, with BV's canoe shaped bow, the extra chain forward has not changed the trim excessively; she actually now sits level rather than very slightly stern down.

So after all that work replacing the chain it's time to go to the gym for a rest!