Where, oh where, should my little dock go?

[John McGrath]

I have a lot in SW Florida that we are now building on. It has a canal out in back and I'm in a quandry as to where to put the dock. The sea wall is 80' long, the dock will be 15' long, and my boat is a 340. My first thought was to put the dock in the middle and be done with it. But now I'm wondering if I should offset it some to allow a second dock for another visiting boat. Assuming another 34' boat (Jim Russell is threatening to drop anchor where would people suggest putting the docks? What distance should I put between them? Should they be offset from the center to allow more room at the stern for arrival and less up front for departing (the easy part)?Any advice gratefully accepted, John

 

[Larry Long]

Dock placement

I believe that most areas in SW Florida will have requirements that will limit the placement of your dock. Starting at the canalside corners of your lot, draw lines at a 45 degree angle to the seawall, projecting out into the canal. These lines will form a triangle with the seawall being the third side. Most areas I know of will require that your boat fit within that triangle. You are probably going to be at least 16-18 feet away from the seawall on the beam furthest out. When you consider that loss of available area I believe that you will find that you don't have room for two 340 sized boats behind your house. I hope this info will help.

 

[John McGrath]

Guess my friends will need small boats

Interesting! I had no idea there might be a fixed way to do this. I'll use your formula and see what it gives me. Sounds like people stopping by may need to come by dinghy! Thanks,John

 

[Paul Akers]

Is Rafting OK?

Can your guests raft outboard of your boat? If the canal is wide enough and not much wake, then it would be a lot cheaper to do it that way.

 

[John McGrath]

Not wide enough

I think rafting is out. The canal is only ~100' wide, so with boats and docks on both sides it really leaves only enough room for two boats to comfortably pass each other.

 

[Roger Magill]

Location, location, location....

John, in reading your notes you seem to be building in an area (and style) that we hope to soon be doing. We just bought a lot in Port Charlotte, on a 100' wide canal. We look forward to be building within a few years. I would be interested to discuss your building plans and experiences. Please feel free to contact me at VRMagill@aol.com.

 

[Dakota Jim Russell]

If not beside, over and under

John, don't worry. Wayne Estabrooks and I have been talking on the side. If we can't berth beside you, we'll park our boats above and below yours.We'll make do. Or maybe we should just buy the lot next to yours. <grin>.Glad to see you had some good advice on this thread.Jim

 

[John McGrath]

The more the merrier

There are empty lots on both sides and if they're not for sale, there are plenty of others that are.