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

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

Provide a kayak launch slide; a funnel-shaped affair with a broad fan area
sloped slightly toward a ~30 deg. sloped chute into the water. Maybe that
algae-covered rubber would work fine for its surface ; ). Grass works great
as well, and would be very inexpensive for the whole affair. If you want to
make it more interesting, have the chute end 2' above the water surface.
Even novice kayakers enjoy seal-launches and they are the easiest way to get
a kayak to water. The fan-shaped boarding area could be ~20' radius @ ~5
deg. slope, allowing up to 10 kayakers to get into their boats and fasten
their skirts, then take turns in quick succession pushing off down the ramp
to the water. Now that I envision this thing, I think grass would be
heavenly. Good luck with your project.

Padeen

"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

I would keep the slope on the put-in very gradual, say 10-15%, and I
wouldn't use any surfacing other than a fill with clean sand. Any thing
else gets algae coated and slippery.


"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

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.

Sounds like a great thing! I have to say, it's unusual to see parks
folks actively designing to accomodate self-powered craft.

The ramp angle is a factor. It doesn't have to be terribly steep
for a tired beginner to tip over backwards trying to carry their
boat up after a lesson ;-) A mild angle is a good thing.

Another thing you may want to consider is to post no swimming signs,
and if there's a swimming beach nearby, note on signage there that
the area near the ramp is off-limits. We used to hold kayak rolling
sessions near a ramp such as you describe, in a pond that also had a
popular swimming beach. We thought that we were being good cits by
confining our activities to the boat ramp, but over and over again,
we would have to contend with swimmers who insisted on swimming near
the boat ramp. Swimmers tend to assume that boaters always see
them, know where they are, and can avoid them -- a very bad
assumption, particularly when the swimmer is periodically submerging
and the kayak is rolling. We would avoid them as best we could, but
polite suggestions that the ramp wasn't a safe place to swim were
generally greeted with curses and you-people rants. We never said
anything to the rangers. Despite the fact that it was obviously a
boat ramp, they took a very dim attitude towards the presence of
boats on THEIR pond -- non-motorized ones, that is; motorized ones
were just fine -- and if we'd said anything, they would have given
us the boot.

--
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::::::
Mary Malmros
Some days you're the windshield,
Other days you're the bug.

(Toney Lowery) wrote in message . com...
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


CONCRETE will scrape the hell out of any boat. An outdoor carpet laid
over it may solve that. For glass boats sand is acceptable as you can
walk them out and get in . Sand tends not to become a scating rink
with Algea.
Good Luck.
Delighted someone is doing this. We have a couple of programms like
that in St. John's Nfld.

Sand or pea gravel. Sand is probably the friendliest non-slip medium
you can find - soft enough not to scratch the bejeebus out of kevlar and
carbon boats, and easy on feet trying to get in and out of the boat.
Ideally, you might even have two 'steepnesses' - one for canoes and
other floating launch boats, and the other for seal launching from the
shore. Great to see someone considering something other than a 2'high
dock:-)

Toney Lowery wrote:
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

You might want to take a look at http://www.hrwa.org/articles/annsville_creek.html
for some idea of what has been done elsewhere.