This is something that I toyed with in the past, so I may have asked a
similar question in the past.

I want to build a floating dock about 7 feet by 14 feet and locate it beside
a seawall fronting a body of water with a fetch of up to eight miles. It
frequently gets quite rough, which the bulkhead makes worse. I am concerned
with how well it would handle this kind of environment, so I was hoping to
hear from someone who might have done this sort of thing.

One thought is to give the raft a lot of mass by way of water ballast (free
flooding barrels with empty plastic jugs inside), but maybe light weight
would be better.

The objective is to provide a means for my wife to board her rowing shell
(when calm, of course), so thanks for any insight some of you might provide.

Garland Gray II wrote:
This is something that I toyed with in the past, so I may have asked a
similar question in the past.

I want to build a floating dock about 7 feet by 14 feet and locate it beside
a seawall fronting a body of water with a fetch of up to eight miles. It
frequently gets quite rough, which the bulkhead makes worse. I am concerned
with how well it would handle this kind of environment, so I was hoping to
hear from someone who might have done this sort of thing.

With an eight mile fetch you're going to find this difficult. I have 40'
floating dock and an eight mile fetch. The dock is basically two 24"
diameter tubes, 1/4" wall with caps on the ends. these are welded
together with 6" C channel steel members and a steel scaffold on top of
this with wood sheathing, all 2" pressure treated, (2" x 6" planking,
and two 2" x 8" running horizontally around the entire structure. You
can appreciate we are talking a considerable mass here. This whole
thing rides up and down on 6" diameter pipes bedded in 6' deep holes in
the bedrock beneath.

Now for the kicker, this thing will ride like a bucking bronco in a good
blow! I bind it by pulling it tight to the 6" tubes with a 4 ton
come-a-long on each end.

Bottom line is, you need something pretty heavy duty to survive..

Cheers
Marty

On Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:38:39 -0400, "Garland Gray II"
wrote:

I want to build a floating dock about 7 feet by 14 feet and locate it beside
a seawall fronting a body of water with a fetch of up to eight miles.

It's going to be difficult. You will need to start with a very strong
floating structure that can be moored to the bottom with heavy chains
strong enough to keep the float from ever contacting the sea wall.
You will need to run a gangway with hand rails from the top of the
wall out to the float. Ideally you need a hoist system to pull up the
gangway in stormy weather.

Garland Gray II wrote:
This is something that I toyed with in the past, so I may have asked a
similar question in the past.

I want to build a floating dock about 7 feet by 14 feet and locate it
beside a seawall fronting a body of water with a fetch of up to eight
miles. It frequently gets quite rough, which the bulkhead makes
worse. I am concerned with how well it would handle this kind of
environment, so I was hoping to hear from someone who might have done
this sort of thing.

One thought is to give the raft a lot of mass by way of water ballast
(free flooding barrels with empty plastic jugs inside), but maybe
light weight would be better.

The objective is to provide a means for my wife to board her rowing
shell (when calm, of course), so thanks for any insight some of you
might provide.

Old tyres lashed together make an excellent basis for such a dock. They
float, and can stand most wave impact. You will need quite a lot, but they
are usually free from some sources.


Dennis.

Dennis Pogson wrote:

Old tyres lashed together make an excellent basis for such a dock. They
float,

They float? You must be in extraordinarily salty water. Your are
correct otherwise, I have seen tires strung together with chains and
suspended beneath floating docks to act both as a damper and a breakwater.

Cheers
Marty
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Thanks to all of you. Probably saved me from a wasted effort.
I'll think about this some more.

Garland Gray II wrote:
Thanks to all of you. Probably saved me from a wasted effort.
I'll think about this some more.



You're welcome Garland, I like the idea of something you can winch up
for this size.

Cheers
Marty

On 2008-04-22 18:38:39 -0400, "Garland Gray II" said:

I want to build a floating dock about 7 feet by 14 feet and locate it
beside a seawall fronting a body of water with a fetch of up to eight
miles. It frequently gets quite rough, which the bulkhead makes worse.

How about going the other way, a lightweight platform, perhaps with a
ladder or ramp, that can normally be flipped up away from the water,
down for use?

--
Jere Lull
Xan-à-Deux -- Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

My oil barrel dock is fended off by an old mast. It stays out from
the rocks, goes up and down, etc. I would post a picture, but am not
set up anywhere. I'll email it to you, if you want.

Terry K