I would be wary of the rubber surface due to algae growth making it
slippery.
A rough (as opposed to a floor smooth) 8-10 foot wide concrete ramp should
work just fine.

"Toney Lowery" wrote in message
om...
Hi all I'm a park planner for the Parks Dept of Columbia, MO. The city
is in the process of developing a 110 acre park that includes a 10
acre lake. We're designing in several kayak/boating features. One is a
"kayak lesson" area, basically a submerged concrete pad for the
instructor to stand in the water next to the student.

Another feature we want to include though is a put-in for
non-motorized boats. The put-in will not be accessible by vehicles so
all boats using it will be carried in. We're talking kayaks, canoes
and small jon boats.

So...

What make a good put-in? As of right now we're thinking a simple
concrete ramp approx. 8-10 feet wide, extending 3-4 below the
waterline with a "rubber surface" that extends to the waterline. The
water level in the lake is remarkably stable and wave action doesn't
appear to be a major factor.

Any critiques, hints, ideas comments would be welcome.

Thanks,
Toney Lowery
Senior Park Planner
Columbia Parks and Recreation www.GoColumbiaMo.com
573 874-7537

On Wed, 8 Oct 2003 07:25:25 -0700, "BB" wrote:

I would be wary of the rubber surface due to algae growth making it
slippery.
A rough (as opposed to a floor smooth) 8-10 foot wide concrete ramp should
work just fine.


City of Pittsburgh does something similar with at least one of their
landings... concrete ramp, textured. However, on the above water
segment, there is some old carpeting that provides some padding and
hull protection for fiberglass boats.

Down at Three Rivers Rowing Association, they actually have some small
floating docks extending off of their concrete ramp. There is a
rubber rub-rail on the outside of the docks. However, this
organization supports both rowing shells (up to 8's) as well as
fla****er kayaks, and some WW or SK boat involvement. It is a good
set-up also.

Ted Marz

The submerged concrete pad will most likely also eventually get
covered with algee and get very slipery. You might be better off just
sinking a few blocks of rip-rap.