Greetings… I’m looking to build a small dock for canoes and kayaks. Nothing elaborate, just a way to get in and out in a muddy/weedy lake area. Anyone have building ideas or some place to find building plans?
Thanks in advance, float49
Floating or stationary?
– Last Updated: Mar-08-16 10:41 PM EST –
Lots of different plans popped up in a Google search. Here's a couple:
http://www.mercoboatdocks.com/image/data/pdfs/Wood_How_To.pdf
http://www.barefeetonthedashboard.com/2015/01/diy-boat-dock/
Pool noodles tied to the side of the dock make good bumpers, as does a yoga mat cut to fit the sides.
Firm sandy bottom or muck?
Canoe/kayak dock reply
The bottom is muck. I’ve lost boots in it so a floating dock probably would be better. I’ll do the Google search.
thanks, float49
here are some ideas:
This company makes accessible floating docks and kayak launches. If you’re able bodied you may not need the launch, but the floating sections are nice.
http://www.ez-dock.com/product-category/ez-launch/
I’ve seen people just put a jet ski port at the end of a dock, and paddle right up onto it.
http://www.ez-dock.com/products/ez-ports/
We just have a floating dock
as there are six of us that invested in a six boat slip system with two swim ladders it was not bad for expense. We had a dock company make it. ( there are tons of them around here)
The swim ladders work really well for canoe and kayak access…
One of our neighbors has a jet ski ramp but it is very hard to drive a paddle craft up on it. perhaps if it were more submerged it would work
A couple of fifty five gallon drums sealed and a ladder and wood and bolts and you ought to be all set.
Fixed docks work best in high wake areas. Our floater is subject to high waves and wakes and its hard on the hinging… Its also a wild ride if you are sunning on the dock… Fixed are a bummer if the water level fluctuates. you have to raise and lower them… and you mentioned ooky bottom…
Nice,but expensive
Over 1K for a 4 x 10 dock section. Much more economical to DYI.
A neighbor down the beach has over $10K in his dock and solar powered shore station. That would buy a couple of very nice kayaks.
yeah, just ideas to spur innovation
This company has done a great job developing what we need. But it’s not rocket science, someone could cobble most of this together on a budget.
I’ve seen just the single jetski platform placed at the ends of residential docks, it’s pretty small but useful for able-bodied paddlers. But again, it could be approximated at a lower cost.
I’d suggest a seal launch ramp, but for the conditions. The ending could be messy in muck!
ha
– Last Updated: Mar-09-16 12:25 PM EST –
You brought back fond memories of a certain sailing club floating dock we used to sun on and fish from when we weren't sailing. On an "all-sports" lake. It was seldom still.
Don’t forget ice
– Last Updated: Mar-09-16 12:48 PM EST –
Fixed docks are also a bummer if your lake ices over. They tend to get beat up and racked pretty extensively at ice-out. Something you can take out in winter is a good idea if ice is a concern.
The OP
is in an icy area. We are required to take out docks each winter here on our lake. There are folks who use fixed ( the preponderance) and folks who use floaters. There is ergo a healthy market for dock installers/removers each season… Its not fun installing in the spring unless you are wetsuit donned. Probably some 300 docks on our three mile long lake.
Both fixed and floater docks can come out easily… well easily if you’re 30. They are heavy!The fixed docks have feet that go to the bottom. Steel tubes are the supports.
roller systems can help.
But our lakes do not have an ooky bottom. I’d pick the brains of dock people. Pretend to be an interested buyer.
In my $.01 mind…kayamedic’s phrase =
– Last Updated: Mar-11-16 7:03 PM EST –
" you have to raise and lower them" is the key to the EZ-Launch's middle surface(maybe just canvas, loose enough to that any pressure from a hull will collapse it underwater...fastened to somewhat thick wooden horizontal poles that should just offer some sideways resistance to the hull. You'd want to raise it out into air at night/when-gone.
Maybe use some pulleys instead of fighting gravity, by pulling rope/chain?..each time used to raise or whatever will pull it up...Crank up with a few pulleys from atop single, thick posts..with the horizontal poles hung to them by rings...but How to pulley both horizontal poles up? (just like cranking in your boat to the trailer(or what we used to do;-))).
..just a 6:31pm guess.
Steve
Completely different idea:
In the Adirondacks, back in the days when guide-boats were commonly used, docks with a very gentle slope going right into the water were very common. Boats could simply slide up onto them. I expect that a modern version of such a dock would best be coated with Astro-turf. It wouldn’t be hard to modify a floating dock to have this configuration. Kayakers would love it.