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Dec 30th, 2023
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 Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
#12260168
05/24/17 07:01 AM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,107
Blue Moon
OP
Extreme Angler
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OP
Extreme Angler
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,107 |
Along the journey Ive had the chance to build and restore a lot of fun things from aircraft, Airstreams, boats, bikes, homes, cabins, and pole barns. Since Im currently on the sideline between professional gigs, a quandary I often seem to face during the spring spawn or the great waterfowl migration, I decided to use the downtime to build a boat dock and chase trophy bass at my ancient fish and game club.
Tip 1: Build your dock or duck blind on the X. Our biologist and his helper (shown with fish) shocked up this hawg during our dock build.
Tip 2: Stay out of the water when the biologist is shocking fish...
While I grew up swinging a hammer in my youth, building in the water has its own set of challenges. For starters, its hard to get anything built when you chase bass twice a day so I reluctantly throttled back fishing to only once a day. As an avid wildlife photographer Ive always enjoyed seeing gators, snakes, beavers and other critters when Im fishing from a boat but working neck deep in the water for days on end around them is another matter.
Bass thrive in the spring fed water at our little club lake, but after working in it for a few hours spawning water is numbing cold, even when its hot outside. Its only marginally tolerable with a tropical wetsuit on. On the first day I started out pretty comfortable in my waterfowl waders but by the end of the first day I was working in water too deep and unlike a wetsuit, waders are very uncomfortable when theyre full of water.
Also, the wetsuit provides peace of mind because I have it on good authority from one of our club elders that our sacred water has leeches in the summer; thankfully so far I cant confirm this myth. Hopefully Ill be out of the water by the end of the week so I should miss leech season.
As with most of my building projects, I started weeks in advance just daydreaming, then sketching dock plans on paper and finally making a material list. Once on site, I hunted for square by staking out Mason lines so Id know exactly where to jet each of the ridiculously heavy, 16 foot long, marine grade pilings. Due to the difficulty of staking out lines in water, it took a painful amount of time to get square. What normally takes me minutes on solid ground took hours and hours overcoming wind and wave motion along with mechanical problems on the clubs work barge. Not long after my geometry teacher would have been proud of my right triangles, a good friends waterdog pup showed up full of reckless abandon and playfully destroyed a full days effort; dogs are an important part of our life so Im OK with a few puppy setbacks.
With the wisdom of the learning curve in hand, I was back to square much sooner the second time around but my plan and new timeline only held true until I attempted to jet the first piling and ran into a train wreck in the form of a debris field, otherwise known as a 100 years of crappie structure... Had I been building a dock on the other side of the world the size of the debris field may have led to speculation we found Malaysia Flight 370.
Before the first piling was set, I ended up having to put on my scuba gear so I could remove bottles a few likely dated back to prohibition, model A tires, a ton of bricks, barn tin from long-forgotten boathouses, and waterlogged trees. Since the lake is nearly 100 years old, I had to dig down several feet below the silt layer to remove the oldest debris. Despite my best effort at clearing debris, in a few cases I still had no choice but to set a piling fore or aft of the perfect spot along my Masons line; so much for my well thought-out plans. This project is taking site built to a whole new level for me.
To jet the pilings, I went to a lot of effort to keep the 4x4s and 6x6s plumb and square. It would have been magnitudes easier to use round posts for pilings but the design I cobbled together requires square posts.
Water Jet Pilings - check out my jet pipe
One of the most fun parts of this project so far was designing, fabricating and using an adjustable jet pipe that allowed me to sink all the pilings between 8 to 12 feet deep depending on the depth of the water. To tackle this project I built an expandable length water jet powered with a 3 trash pump.
The jet pipe is big, heavy and has a wild spirit when it comes to life; its not for the faint of heart or casual DIYer. Im fortunate to have a fishing buddy thats as big as a NFL lineman that offered to help me during the project, mainly because he knew I was planning to fish every day and he also faces similar unemployment issues during the spring spawn and great migration.
Heavy and cold weather. Some mornings were still in the 40s forcing us to fish in the morning and wait for the sun to warm things up a bit. On the day the tornados hit, I decided it would be prudent to leave the area early to avoid what looked like possible heavy weather. We ended up spending the next few days removing downed trees before we got back on the dock project.
Dock Spars - I took a page from my background cobbling together aerobatic flying machines and built aircraft style spars for dock beams. While not conventional or necessary for docks, it makes for a very strong structure.
Joist Prep - adding 2x6 nailing boards to reinforce the 2x8 rim joists.
Galvanized bolts were used to attach the 2x8 rim joists to the 4x4 and 6x6. Combined with the aviation spars, it should be strong enough.
pulled lines to keep the joists straight so the deck screws will run straight.
Before you ask, it will be done on Tuesday, I just don't know what Tuesday...
Blue Moon
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12260442
05/24/17 01:54 PM
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 203
coachfish
Outdoorsman
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Outdoorsman
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 203 |
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: coachfish]
#12260455
05/24/17 02:01 PM
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,516
lipjerk
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,516 |
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12261946
05/25/17 04:40 AM
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Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,086
TwoLakes
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,086 |
Nice. I'm planning to build a dock on my pond soon. Still unsure if I'm going to build a stationary dock or a floating dock. Keep up the good work.
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12657638
03/04/18 05:03 PM
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,107
Blue Moon
OP
Extreme Angler
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OP
Extreme Angler
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,107 |
For those of you in the TFF tribe with dock dreams swirling around in your minds, I thought Id post an update on my DIY Boat Dock Blog to show a shot of the dock just after I screwed down the last deck board. This spring over weekend fishing trips Im planning to raise a simple shed roof just over the boat slip. 
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12657658
03/04/18 05:13 PM
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 23,756
J.P. Greeson
the janitor
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the janitor
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 23,756 |
The solution to any problem - work, love, money, whatever - is to go fishing, and the worse the problem, the longer the trip should be. --John Gierach ![[Linked Image]](https://texasfishingforum.com/forums/pics/userpics/2019/09/full-13-25328-gco.jpg)
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12657674
03/04/18 05:22 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 20,046
Donald Harper
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 20,046 |
WOW! Great job. Thanks for sharing. That lake has some beautiful Bass. Good fishing and keep us posted.
Each person you work with holds some promise to your future success. Websiite Sponsors: www.eletewater.com - Staying Hydrated www.lakeoviachic.com - Booking Mexico Trips 20 Hot Spot Mapping - GPS Contour Chips - Custom Spinner Baits - Jigs -Spooks Pure Extracts - Minnow-Night Crawler-Crayfish-Craylic
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Donald Harper]
#12657701
03/04/18 05:52 PM
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Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 416
H2ODawg67
Angler
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Angler
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 416 |
Nicely written and funny as all get out. That dock is impressive. Looks like it will survive those tornados. 
Formerly H2ODawg
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12657765
03/04/18 06:42 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 297
Newly Retired
Angler
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Angler
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 297 |
I am having a difficult time getting a dock repaired on Cypress Springs, any suggestions.
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: H2ODawg67]
#12657774
03/04/18 06:52 PM
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Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,650
senko9S
TFF Guru
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TFF Guru
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 26,650 |
Nicely written and funny as all get out. That dock is impressive. Looks like it will survive those tornados.
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12657844
03/04/18 08:03 PM
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,347
Hog Jaw
TFF Team Angler
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TFF Team Angler
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,347 |
Nice Work , we just keep adding to ours and keep enjoying it more .
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Re: Blue Moon's DIY Boat Dock Blog
[Re: Blue Moon]
#12658162
03/05/18 12:15 AM
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,080
Joey J.
Extreme Angler
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Extreme Angler
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 1,080 |
A dance floor on water. Great story and awesome wood work, but always great pics from the Great Blue Moon. I saw two drake wood ducks today and thought of how you would photograph them.
Joey J.
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