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Nov. 30th, 2022 12:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scrottieIn the google street view of the address here, there's a kind of patio just off the street right before the ramp down to the floating docks. As is typical in this design, the bottom of the ramp rolls fore and aft as the docks go up and down with the tides. The patio bit at the top of the ramp is being re-done. Last it was redone I don't know when, they used that plastic lumber, and it didn't hold up well, but neither did the wooden 2x4s under it or the huge wooden crossbeams supporting the whole structure, or the redwood decking on the main docks. This is now closed off with orange plastic fencing and caution tape, and tractors are hauling away chucks of deck.
There's a fishing dock that years ago was previously open to the public, and is open again for dinghy access. Many people are unhappy with this state of affairs, but many are fine with it too. Kayaks, pedal boats, the standard issue West Marine plastic dinghies, and various things now dot the fishing dock and the opposite side of the main dock.
Places with newer docks advertise concrete docks. I imagine those last a lot longer and aren't as slippery but then have to be completely replaced beyond a point. That also just sounds painful to run in to. These very much have give to them. The docks here are built on straight up unprotected polystyrene foam, with metal framing, then wood decking on top. A lot of the foam has been worn down over the ages to the point where dock fingers are wobbly and the whole structure, mostly covered by large metal sheds, is starting to sink, and doing so unevenly. The big chunks of foam have also been being replaced with some kind of harder plastic floats, and piles of the old foam are all over, including a big row of them like dominoes on the fishing dock.
Yesterday, I walked around a bit pondering my options for going in to town. There was a fairly strong north wind off of the fishing dock and its south landing so single handed docking and leaving broadside to that shore wind could be a bit sketchy and I'd take up a lot of room on the fishing dock. Someone also ran a line to the fishing dock not even half way down it to pull themselves across but the plan of making a ferry-dinghy on a line you could pull back and forth as needed apparently wasn't implemented and I don't have a dinghy to implement it with. Kayak is quick and easy but it's a whitewater kayak with almost no storage, just the small cockpit. Going in to town generally involves the bicycle which definitely won't fit in the cockpit, so I towed the bicycle and its panniers on one of the old dock foam chunks. Also considered was just kayaking over to the fishing dock with a bunch of line and building dock to the main dock out of those but figured I'd probably get in trouble if I did that. They are a bit tippy if not joined together really well and even then, they're worn down like little plastic icebergs so they're still pretty tippy. Incidentally, that's the same reason sailboats with slack bilges are a bit tippy at first. Two side-by-side with pieces of the ripped off decking on them though would be pretty solid. Engaging in construction is hard to resist. While I'm happy to kayak, I'm also trying to stir up mutiny just for the fun of building stuff with large blocks.
There's a fishing dock that years ago was previously open to the public, and is open again for dinghy access. Many people are unhappy with this state of affairs, but many are fine with it too. Kayaks, pedal boats, the standard issue West Marine plastic dinghies, and various things now dot the fishing dock and the opposite side of the main dock.
Places with newer docks advertise concrete docks. I imagine those last a lot longer and aren't as slippery but then have to be completely replaced beyond a point. That also just sounds painful to run in to. These very much have give to them. The docks here are built on straight up unprotected polystyrene foam, with metal framing, then wood decking on top. A lot of the foam has been worn down over the ages to the point where dock fingers are wobbly and the whole structure, mostly covered by large metal sheds, is starting to sink, and doing so unevenly. The big chunks of foam have also been being replaced with some kind of harder plastic floats, and piles of the old foam are all over, including a big row of them like dominoes on the fishing dock.
Yesterday, I walked around a bit pondering my options for going in to town. There was a fairly strong north wind off of the fishing dock and its south landing so single handed docking and leaving broadside to that shore wind could be a bit sketchy and I'd take up a lot of room on the fishing dock. Someone also ran a line to the fishing dock not even half way down it to pull themselves across but the plan of making a ferry-dinghy on a line you could pull back and forth as needed apparently wasn't implemented and I don't have a dinghy to implement it with. Kayak is quick and easy but it's a whitewater kayak with almost no storage, just the small cockpit. Going in to town generally involves the bicycle which definitely won't fit in the cockpit, so I towed the bicycle and its panniers on one of the old dock foam chunks. Also considered was just kayaking over to the fishing dock with a bunch of line and building dock to the main dock out of those but figured I'd probably get in trouble if I did that. They are a bit tippy if not joined together really well and even then, they're worn down like little plastic icebergs so they're still pretty tippy. Incidentally, that's the same reason sailboats with slack bilges are a bit tippy at first. Two side-by-side with pieces of the ripped off decking on them though would be pretty solid. Engaging in construction is hard to resist. While I'm happy to kayak, I'm also trying to stir up mutiny just for the fun of building stuff with large blocks.
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Date: 2022-11-30 10:18 pm (UTC)Hello sir, I'm from the Church of Brompton. Do you believe you're a good person?
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Date: 2022-11-30 10:51 pm (UTC)Kayak looks like so: https://www.mountainbuzz.com/threads/perception-dancer-kayak.112701/
If Bromptons weren't so heavy, I could hoist it off the dock, about two feet up, into my lap, but then I'd still be SOL on carrying the panniers. Besides, towing old pieces of dock around is fun. They're amazingly non-hydrodynamic.