dock construction

     When we first bought the cottage property 50 years ago, it had no dock. Just a couple logs held together with a few old boards -- slippery and dangerous. Thus my first project there was to build a swimming dock. I constructed the beast at home in the garage, and then took it in pieces to camp and reassembled it on the shore. Since it was 3 x 12' sections, thus 36 feet long, built out of 2x6" western red cedar (readily available in those days), it need a 'horse' support for each of the first two 12 foot sections. I built the horses in my university's workshop, one out of aluminum and the bigger, stronger one out of steel. And there I am below in the water together with the two horses waiting for the dock pieces to arrive from helpers on the shore. We had a team of different folks helping with the installation and removal each year, as no one relished the job. (Note the log raft out in the 15 foot water.)

And so the usual installation began. This is the shore section heading to the first horse..

And the second section positioned from the first to second horses...
I was always the idiot working alone out in the lake wearing waders. Spring water temperatures are just about freezing of course. In some spring seasons I had to push the ice out of the way!  My grimace tells the story. We have done this installation (spring) or removal (fall) with as few as two of us in the past (thanks again Tim P).

The end of the dock, the third section was a 8x12' piece that floated on 4x45 gallon drums attached with a 4' tongue. In the beginning, we used steel drums to float that end piece. The end section overwintered partly on the shore on top of the old steel drums (see below). In later years, we replaced the steel drum floats with plastic drums, again seen below, before floating the end piece into position at the end of the dock. Note also on top of the raft section is the 4 foot tongue connector piece folded back with hinges onto the end raft section.

Finishing the connection from the second horse to the 4 foot tongue on the floating raft unit -- of course with helpful guidance from my grand-daughter overseers.

Thus the dock was again installed for probably the 30th time. The sliding steel rods at the end of the floating section allowed it to move up or down without moving sideways.

This yearly installation was a real drag. It clearly was becoming a project that no longer should  physically involve me. Also the wood, too, was getting tired, even though many of the boards were still is good shape -- you have gotta love western red cedar.  However Jamie began encouraging me to replace the dock with a "floating dock."
     At our neighbor's cottage next door on Finch Lake, Matt Churchill had just installed a floating new dock that did not require winter removal!!!!  Being the eternal pessimist, however, I said let me see how your new dock over-winters in the face of the ice assault in the spring. Spring ice has a way of destroying most every kind of dock and its supports -- including horses and rock-filled cribs. Yet the next spring, Matt's unit was perfect. Thus a new project began for me at our place.
     Our dock design was much longer than Matt's, which was going to require some additional planning. But we went for it anyway and order the required pieces...

The wood for the top dressing boards also arrived, and so it began. The old dock was still in use here.

At this point, my brother Dave made the 'mistake' of coming to visit. Thus, he and I assembled the new dock next to the old dock, with some help from his dog Ginger.

and more ...

and more.

Slowly the interconnecting parts were secured, which took a couple of days

The floating end section, like the old dock, and the floating approach to it next were secured.

Now for the top dressing of 1 inch 'treated' boards.

Each board was secured to special places on the black floats forming a wood frame on the top of the float, and then the 'deck' boards were secured to the wood frame, all with stainless steel screws.

Finally, the floating sections collectively were done.

Following a hard couple of days by two old men, the day ended as expected.

Times two ...

Of course this was followed by a well earned libation.

Now was time to work on the shore deck, requested by Tracey, and the ramp from the shore deck to reach the floating sections in the lake.  David was now gone so the rest of the project was effected by Jamie and me. First the shore deck was nestled under the trees on the north side to block wind from that direction (Tracey's idea).

After successfully overcoming the challenge of making it perfectly square that piece was done.

Now the ramp to the floating dock was constructed and added. Note that the old dock has been moved away...

...and was retired to sleep quietly off to the right side of the new dock and off-screen, where we subsequently used it for getting in and out of boats and kayaks.

In a side view, the new dock looks like this. The aluminum cage behind the dock was part of an earlier trout raising project, but that is another story, and both the project and the cage are now gone.

So the dock was now ready for play. The grand kids love to run down the ramp and zoom out to the end of the dock leaping wildly into the air and landing in the water. Here Siobhan is executing this ritual.

and landing ...

Kersplash !!!!

And then her younger sister, Ceilah, gives it a try, with less confidence.

And so one day ends, and another day begins with the sun rising over the new dock.

And sadly too soon the swimming season ends.  The deck, however, continues to be useful during the fall for sitting in the warm sun and eating lunch on it or at the adjacent fire pit.

In conclusion, if you ever need to build a dock, take a serious look at this beast. It has been wonderful for the past several years, and I no longer have to lift the damn thing!!!! Note also the raft is gone. It broke its cable one spring and floated away -- again for the second time -- but this time down the outlet about a half mile where it ended up on a beaver dam. It's still floating, but it is not coming back. 😊