Mother nature throws much at us to keep us boaties busy. The harsh environments of salty water and wind do their best to keep us occupied with an endless round of cleaning and maintenance.
One of our battles is to keep the anchor chain in good condition, afterall it is the significant other in partnership with the anchor in keeping us from drifting off from our chosen parking spot.
Every year a winter job is to wash the chain and repaint the length markings. This year we noticed the first 30m which gets used the most is showing more signs of rust and has lost all it's zinc coating. Something needed to be done to delay any more corrosion and stop the chain melding together into a rusty lump whilst living in the chain locker for the next six months.
Our first task was to get the chain from the locker to the pontoon - not so easy when Med moored stern to. We laid tarps on the deck to protect it having only painted last winter. Then heaved the chain out in managable lengths and drag/carried it down the side deck, across the passarelle and onto the pontoon.
A scrub and wash removed any loose, flaky stuff and a few barnacles that had made home there (probably from Barnacle Bay at Syracuse (our own name for the place after a barnacle invasion force moved in on Emerald's hull)). Next we spray painted the chain with a zinc paint; our aim is for the paint to provide protection whilst in the locker and maybe a couple of months of cover once we're back anchoring again. The length markers will then need to be painted on again. Although it does seem like a pointless exercise as we know the zinc paint will eventually get knocked off through use, if it prolongs the life of the chain for another season or so then it's got to be worth trying. We shall report back next season on the holding power of the zinc paint.