What's Up...Dock?

Back in my early days on Rainy Lake I had a construction company called The Dock Doctors, and to go along with that I acquired the nickname Dr. Dock because of my many years in the business. With the big 5-0 starring me in the face tomorrow, I guess I was reminiscing a little about those simpler times more than thirty years ago. Or it could be that the pain in my back is making me think about it.

During my real estate career, I have had plenty of opportunities to strike up conversations with clients about different types of docks, and the benefits or drawbacks each one might provide. Roll-in docks and sectional systems are the most common on the majority of Minnesota lakes, with a permanent dock on pilings evident here and there. And of course you see a lot of floating docks used for add-ons, swim rafts, and even for the entire platform now and then.

But to my surprise, most people south of the larger lakes up north have never heard of crib docks, which are what I spent most of my dock building days specializing in. And last weekend I got to experience the combination of increasing age and decreasing strength, as I spent two days dismantling decking and timbers that had become a bit skewed from shifting ice over the course of the winter - and then rebuilding the crib to its former level status.

To build a crib dock from scratch, you need an ample supply of larger rocks and boulders that you can find at the bottom of the lake and then dive underwater to pull them out. If they are too heavy, you will drown if you don't let go of the rock on your way up to the surface; if they are too light, they won't do much to hold the crib down. So, it is important to find the ones that you can just barely lift out of the lake and into the crib or an adjoining platform.

You should also be careful to not drop the rocks on you as you are struggling with them on their way to the surface. Many times there is a good supply of slime attached which makes them kind of slippery. But I've learned that the slime doesn't seem to matter as the rock heads back down to the bottom crushing your toe in the process; it always seems to land quite directly instead of slipping off your foot painlessly.

If your rock supply is intact, you can then decide where to place your cribs. A crib is simply a grouping of timbers of certain lengths criss-crossed back and forth with the boulders thrown inside it to hold it in place. It is kind of like a Lincoln Log fort, but there are spaces in between each of the timbers that run in the same direction. Once you get your crib level and at the proper height, you can then run your stringers to place the decking on top of.

The nice thing about crib docks is that they are much more sturdy than temporary dock systems. If built correctly there is very little bounce, and they make a great place to position tables and chairs out over the water. Because you don't have to remove them each year, you can create wider areas for entertaining that may be hard to do with other dock systems, as long as state, county and local governing codes allow it.

But crib docks also have a negative side to them. With wide expanses of water - such as the three miles across to Canada at our Rainy Lake cabin - ice flows sometimes take their toll on these creations. And high water levels can also be quite damaging when five or six foot waves are added to them.

So, back to this past weekend. Right after I had gotten all this bull work done, and got the rebuilt crib level and the stringers in place, I heard a crunching noise along the edge of the dock. Thirty mile per hour east winds were moving the entire ice flow, and piling up ice at a rapid rate. And my perfectly level crib was no match for its power.

To my dismay, the ice lifted up the crib - rocks and all - and slid it over about two feet to the west, lifting it up on top of a larger boulder protruding from the bottom of the lake. Needless to say, that crib is no longer level, and those two days of exercise may have been only an exercise in futility for the time being.

But, it is only a couple months until the water warms up enough to go diving for more boulders. So even with another year under my belt, I'm guessing it will be good as new by July!