Jen Had A Fit

Burlington, VT

 

A package arrived for us. When Jen looked at it, she thought, "WTF." It contained 20 tiny bits of plastic, 1/4" x 1/4" x 1/2". The invoice said $36; $1.75 each bit!!! She thought that we must have been hoaxed or gypped or were just plain stupid. Not so.

 

There's a real story here. For nearly 10 years, we struggled with methods of marking the lengths of our anchor chain.

 

We started with cloth tags, sewn on. They didn't last and they were hard to see at times.

 

We tried plastic wire ties. They didn't last and they were hard to see at times.

We. Tried painted markings. They didn't last and they were hard to see at times.

Nothing worked well. All this time, I was aware that one could buy commercial chain markers made of bits of plastic. But they were far too expensive. Now, after ten years of trying all alternatives, I threw in the towel and bought some of the expensive bits. You can see a picture of some of them installed below. Time will tell. Will they work or will they not last and be hard to see?

 

Here's our marking scheme. We mark our 5/16" chain every 20 feet, and use Red and White markers.

 

20 W

40 WW

60 WWW

80 WWWW

100 R

120 RR

140 RRR

160 RRRR

180 to the bitter end: unmarked.