New mooring chains
A small band of volunteers have successfully laid the new moorings chains which were acquired from the Studland ferry. They had to be cut to size, marked up and laid then railway wheels attached at each end with the riser chains fitted for the trots - sounds simple? Read on!
This is very heavy work, all of the clubs machinery has been utilised to enable the accurate laying of these huge lengths of chains
Masterminded by Mike Jury, Clive Brookman and Steve Pitman the lengths of chain were dragged down the slipway by the Wise machine to the water's edge where bouys, fenders and race marks were attached to the chain to enable it to be floated into position; the club's RIB then tows this strange ensemble to its drop site. One by one the bouys, fenders etc are released while the RIB keeps tension on the chain to ensure it goes down vertically. When on the bottom the divers connect them up to the wagon wheels that have been craned into Metal Mickey, then dropped into position using air bags. The fork lift having unloaded all the smaller linked chains off the lorry, then loaded up Metal Mickey. These chains act as the risers which the fore and aft lines are fitted to, to which we attach our mooring strops.
One consolation - the chains should last for 25 years so it is not an exercise that many of us will have to repeat.
Mike hopes that those of us staying in the water can return to these moorings within the next few weeks. The club owes a big thank you to those members that gave their time in ensuring that this important project was completed.
