Project Number One- A New Ramp

It seems that one of the issues that has plagued us most while living on the water is safe access. This is what we were dealing with at the last location. The large boom sticks in this picture were attached to the shore and were holding in the marina just to the left of the house. As we couldn't just run a dock straight from the land to the house, we had to have many  disjointed sections to cross over the sticks. Every single time the tide changed, these sections would float around and change shape, often falling apart. Dave had to rearrange things every single day, so that we could have passage to shore.

 

 

Note the board in the middle is about 2 feet above the dock in front of it. At low tide we had to step on one end of the board, walk to the middle of it and wait for gravity to lower the far end like a teeter-totter so we could continue on. I work nights, usually getting home around 10-11 pm.Trying to navigate this in the rain and in the dark was always terrifying.

 



 

One day the river took the main dock and twisted it so hard that even Super Dave couldn't get me out.

Needless to say,we are so happy to be finished with that place.

 

So after our experience on Mitchell Island, this setup looked positively awesome, although in reality it left a lot to be desired as well.

 

 

 

The boards are laying across an extremely old rotted dock that shivers and quakes as you pass over it.

 

 

 

The landlord had purchased these old crane sections.

 

 

Dave spent several days cutting all the cross bars off the top end of them.

 

Here is some of his hard work, these bars will be recycled by bending them into U shapes which will then be fitted around the pilings and used to attach the docks more securely.

 

With the upper bars cut out, these will now make a nice walkway for us with good high railings.

 

The sections were all pinned together and lifted into place with a crane.

 

We are just waiting for the landlord to purchase some expanded metal mesh like this so Dave can finish decking the ramp

 

 

Here is a good shot showing the new ramp next to the old one. Believe it or not, the water was as high as the new ramp last spring when there was much flooding in the area during the freshet.

 

 

All that hard work paid off, Dave is a happy camper now!
How lucky am I to have such a handy boyfriend!!

Dave also built the float that the ramp is resting on. It's not quite finished yet in this picture. There are still rails to be bolted in place around the edges and steel rails for the ramp wheels to rest in that have to be installed.

The float was built from an existing dock, which was cut in half, joined together to make it wider and new sides and decking put on. The decking came from this old dock. Dave had to go and pry off the boards he needed and cut them to size and install them.

 

The result: a beautiful new float for the ramp!

With winter nipping at our heels, it will be great to have the new ramp to use. The expanded metal will give us lots of traction without holding snow. Dave just spent this morning nailing down a roll of gritty tar paper on the long dock beside the house, so we should be very safe and comfortable getting on and off the water. Now that this job is done, hopefully the next item will be bringing in some power! That will be the happiest day of my life!

Did you like this post? Share it! Tweet it! "Like" The Eclectic Ark on Facebook! Thanks, your awesome,