I wonder how many times I’ve been told in the last sixty years to “Mind your fingers” (or “Be patient” or “Look before you leap.”). Last Sunday at the Dee Rally I forgot to do so. Four of us were struggling to recover Joan’s heavy, laden boat across soft sand. We’d winched it onto its trailer, only to find that we couldn’t budge it, so instead of waiting patiently for a club tractor to appear, I impetuously hailed a passing 4 x 4 and asked for help. The driver was inexperienced but willing and I wasn’t thinking straight. We decided to use the anchor warp. I stretched out what was freely available from under the spray cover and, as this wasn't quite enough, I used the 3/8"chain itself to take a turn around the tow-hitch. I even thought, “What a good idea. This will save the rope getting greasy.” The chain slipped, so I called on the driver to stop while I put a second turn on. We restarted and this time the wheels of the 4 x 4 began to spin and dig in, so I stopped him again. At this point, the tractor which we had called for turned up, the perfect vehicle for the task. So what did yours truly do? Without a pause for thought I started to slip the chain off the tow-hitch, the tension in the anchor rope took control and the chain whipped through my fingers so quickly that they still hurt several hours later, but I felt lucky that I still have enough to be able to count to ten.