Portable Dock for Fish Creek Pond Complete!

[CampADK]

For those interested in docks

     at FCP, you may recall my thread which includes plans and photos of
other docks built by FCP campers. See http://fishcreekpond.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43

After finally completing our new aluminum frame Dock, I am happy to report great success!

Not only was the Dock easy to put together, but it actually floated which made it that much easier to
assemble. In fact I was able to put the Dock together in just over an hour! Considering that I will no
longer be removing the decking from the frame, I estimate I will be able to reduce the 'build time' to
about 1/2 hour next time.

Here is a step by step description of the build along with photos.

Main sunning deck assembled with the legs partically dropped. Simply drag out a bit into the water and
it will float for attachment to the Dock sections. This 4x6ft section weights about 125 lbs with the decking
and legs attached.



I now have 2 of the Dock sections in the water with legs pulled up allowing them to float. Here I am
bolting two of the Dock sections together. Each of these 2x8ft sections weighs about 80lbs with decking
and legs attached...



The two main Dock sections are now bolted together as well as bolted to the 4x6ft sun deck.
Fairly easy to line up since the whole assembly is floating. Note my choice of leg lengths for each section
was a bit off... next time I'll even out things for a more consistent look...



Ready to attach the gang plank which connects the rest of the Dock with the shore....



Getting ready to attach the gang plank...



Only 6 bolts were needed to assemble the Dock and deck section together! Now on to raising the Dock
above the waterline and levelling it...



Levelling...



Using a socket wrench for quick levelling and adjustment using pressure bolts...



Adirondack chair is in place, flag pole is up... time for a salute!



After putting the boat in the water, I make adjustment to fenders and install Dock bumpers to
complete the job...



She's all done! Total Dock and deck weight is approx 340 lbs including the legs. The setup is not only
extremely stable, it doesn't move an inch even with 4 or 5 people on it. Boat tugging due to
waves and wind

     have no effect
on the Dock either.



Dock is complete and the wife is a happy deck camper!



View of our final setup from the pond...



Finally night time arrives and we enjoy a great sunset with lit up Dock and flag pole...



Morning view from the Airstream...



Only one hitch now... storage of the Dock!!! It partially fits in the boat if disassembled completely...
but we stored each of the 3 2x8ft sections in the camper instead this time, and the 4x6ft deck in the
SUV... what

     a job!! Site packup with Dock, boat and camper was about 4.5 hours... oops!

Next Task?? Dock Rack for the boat trailer!! This will solve the problem and will GREATLY reduce the
effort and time required to both assemble and store the Dock on each trip.

Dock rack will be ready for our next trip on July 3rd.

Cheers

[Callie]

Hi

One of ouf Fish Creek buddies builds his dock with a waist high platform for cleaning fish near land. We caught some beauties last year on Upper Saranac

     -- sauteed them in some onion and butter -- yummo! The platform makes cleaning them easy

Just a thought for you fisherpeople!

Call

    ie

[CampADK]

Kinda late posting this.. but forgot to post photos of our boat trailer dock rack, all loaded up. There is a
bit of weight here (about 300-350lbs) so I really should add some angle brace to stabilize the side to
side sway... but alas I only have 10 minutes to transport the boat and dock to storage.

Anyways a few shots of the dock on the boat trailer...

Trial test, loading dock up above the boat... not too much trouble!


Here is the boat and dock with dock legs and all at our storage place. I ended up taking the cedar
decking off of the 4x6ft deck pad to reduce the weight we had to lift, as well as reducing the load
on the trailer...


Total packup time for the Airstream, boat and dock was about 5 hours for the 1st time using this 'system'...
hopefully we can reduce that somewhat by taking the boat out the night before we leave.

Last problem to solve is the issue of how to raise the dock up out of the water without having to lift too
much weight... I have the answer

    !! Here it is... a trailer winch rigged to sit on the support posts, and 'lift'
the dock frame up simply and easily... no stress at all! Will only be able to lift the dock up about 5-6 inches
at a time from each of the 8 supports, but it should be much easier than lifting while tighting up the leg
support bolts. Will test this out next week at FC!



On Monday I hope to be able to take the dock off and have it setup in the water in 45 minutes or less.

Still have some plans for next year... adding a triangle deck piece to increase the overall dock space,
plus maybe a swimup bar or cooler setup... not sure... likely a bit over the top but what the heck...

Cheers

[humormeplease]

Dave,
You did a great job on the uprights for the dock storage above the boat...I like how neat you were in painting them white to match the trailer, it looks like it came from the factory!

[CampADK]

Dave,
You did a great job on the uprights for the dock storage above the boat...I like how neat you were in painting them white to match the trailer, it looks like it came from the factory!

Nearly LOL. I had a welder do the work for me since I'm more of a computer

     type LOL.

[CampADK]

Well thats it for our first season with the new FCP dock.

It worked great! By the 4th time I used it, we were down to about 15-20 minutes to put the dock together
once it is off the trailer, and have it basically setup in the water.

Now on to the next project... The Tiki-Bar Addition!

Here is a mockup of the new Tiki-Bar as it might appear next year... ok not exactly... I do have to keep things simple and easy to put together and store...



This shot illustrates where

     the Tiki-Bar addition fits onto the current dock...



Anyways on the way home Sunday we stop at the Tupper Lake Flea Market, which is always a fun
time, and purchased a Polynesian wood

    en 'Tiki-Bar' sign. It will hang in the Tiki-Bar addition new year.

Plan is to incorporate a small Tiki-Roof (ADK style), 2 stools, lights, cooler and stereo. It's mostly just a fun
project. Hopefully it doesn't take a lot of room to store

Have any great ideas? Let me know.

[Rubberduky]

Dave,

My family is another one of those families that builds a dock during our stay. During our stay this year (Aug 12 - 21), one of our campmates mentioned that he saw a "really cool and totally over the top" dock on the other side of the lake. "And, they had a neat looking Airsteam." That kind of narrowed it down.

Hope you had a nice stay. How did you far

    e with the temps and the winds

    ?

Jim

[CampADK]

Hi Jim,

Weather that week was decent... one evening however we took our guests out for a tour of Upper Saranac

    .. turned out some heavy winds

     and rain

     came in and gave us a somewhat 'thrilling' ride back across Upper Saranac to camp.

We arrived at the campsite only to find

     that some freak winds had tossed our heavy Adirondack chair, off the dock and into the drink!

You just never know.... LOL

[Rubberduky]

The early part of our week was very nice, we did the trip from Lake Flower to Middle Saranac by boat... beautiful. But, either Thursday or Friday we had tremendous wind

     gusts. I was tying things down like crazy so nothing would break or fly away. First time I've seen that. We have a Paha Que 10x12 screen room where

     we ended up feeding dinner to our 14 campmates (including us). It was cozy, but no one complained. At least we were out of the wind and rain

    .

BTW... Your dock transportation system is something to behold. I'm trying to talk my father-in-law into changing from his cedar dock (that we store up there) to an aluminum one like yours. We'll see.

Side Note: That Paha Que screen room is almost bomb proof. If anyone is looking to purchase one, I strongly recommend them. We had ours staked and guyed, but it never gave any evidence of being blown down, even in the strongest gusts.

Jim

[CampADK]

Jim,

We did the Lower Saranac up the north end of Middle Saranac tour last year. What a great day that was! We also did another day from Lower to Lake Flower. These are definately must do boating trips for those who

     have a boat and are at fish creek for a week or more.

Our Paha Que is a 12x12 canopy only (no sides). We had it roped to the trees most of that week... just in case. What site were you on that time? We were on 103, which is pretty open to those north east bound winds.

My dock transportation system works ok, but a bit of work to load up. We got to use it 4 times this season, so it was a worthwhile project. Maybe next year we'll use it a bit more if we get out camping more in May. The vertical supports on the boat trailer also need to be braced a bit more as they sway, but we only have a 10 minute drive to Where

     we store it.. so not a big deal at this point. An aluminum dock with cedar decking of that size is about 350lbs total if I remember correctly.

Where do you store your dock?

To bad we couldn't have a dock depository at FCP

Maybe we need to add that to the suggestion box!

[Rubberduky]

We were on Site 212

     and 213. The winds were coming across the site from 211 side at the lake across the site to the woods. I have a popup with tarps added over the beds (rain

     protection and sun reflection) and the wind ripped out the stake holding the tarp down. I added several more guy lines, and that solved the problem.

We store our dock at a friends house, in his garage attic, in Tupper Lake. He's very generous with his space, but we do occasionally have to "pay up". Last year we built him a small deck and now he's talking about railings for the deck. I don't mind doing it because of his generousity and it's more time I get to spend up the ADK's. To transport ours from his house to the site, we just put in the back of the minivan. A bit cumbersome, but it works. I couldn't imagine spending any time in Fish Creek with a boat and not have a dock.

My father-in-law (going

     to FCP since about 1956) said that people used to hide the docks in the woods and reclaim them every year. He tells the story of hunting for fire wood

     many years ago and running into a man trying to find

     his dock. The man couldn't remember the exact location and was looking at my father-in-law like he took it. With today's GPS technology, it would be easy to hide it and refind again the next year.

It would be nice if they had a dock depository. They could also do well with storage for FCP specific gear that some people have. Could be a money maker.

Jim

[CampADK]

dock storage would be a good extra biz for Norma over at Donaldson.. but she and her son probably have enough to contend with, with the campground. Would be great to have a spot where we could just tow the dock too, and perhaps lock it up on shore. Even Hickocks

     should provide that service. They do still 'store' some campers in a field nearby, but my understanding is they used to do that, but don't offer it anymore... not sure... should ask about that.

Then again if I have to load up the dock on the trailer, then I still will have went to all that effort, and whether it is stored 2 minutes away or 10 minutes.. its all the same.

Speaking of hiding... we had a LOT of wood left over once, so we left some for the next campers, but also hide some of the wood in the bush.. well actually behind a transform box or something. When

     we went to look for the wood on our next trip it was gone! Darn bears!!

Ideally I would be thrilled to be able to pull up the dock supports, and float the dock over to a depository. That would REALLY reduce setup time. Oh and of course leave the boat and camper there too

We can't complain though, at least we are not towing camper and boat back and forth to home.... that would be costly!

[CampADK]

The dock project is now documented in full on its own page (link on the home page as well) under 'Projects'.
See http://fishcreekpond.com/dockproject.php



Cheers

[kkirsch]

That is an impressive dock. Mine is not near as luxurious but so far

     we need not transport it back and forth. We hide it in a bear proof area and have for the past 10 years. Use to hide it in the campsite above the old sand pit around Site 120

     but a porcupine saw me do that and ate it the next day nails and all. I was thinking of making a nice rig like you have for my raceboat trailer so hauling, loading and unloading the boats would be easier.

[CampADK]

How about a combo trailer that converts into a dock? Considering the size of your boats, you have some great options with a customized trailer. I am limited due to width. Technically I think I am over the legal limit by one or two inches in width

If I had the opportunity, I might have designed mine to be a bit lighter, and lighter/thinner decking perhaps. Built in ratches for the legs would be pretty useful too.

Would be great to be able to have some setup where I could just pull out the dock and wheel it over to Donaldson's or something...

Didn't stumble upon yours around Fish Creek Peak last week