dock depth?
 

Good morning, Forum! I'm looking at a house and was wondering what the necessary depth of water should be at the dock? I know some houses highlight "deep water dock", but this one doesn't. I also know different boats have different drafts. So the question is really "in general".

Really depends on the size and hull type you want to put in there. A long pontoon doesn't take up that much water but a heavy large carver will. If you have a sailboat will you take the centerboard out when you come in? There is no right answer but deeper is typically better (until you drop a tool or something overboard that you need to retrieve).

Another consideration would be repairs. Shallow docks are easier and less costly to repair, as are shorter docks. Again, this depends on where the dock is as well. Open to the broads will likely take more damage during ice out than in a small cove.


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I keep my boat at a friend's house on the lake. It is pretty shallow. He hired a civil engineer to come out and do a plan for a new dock for his boat (26 ft bowrider). This was done in very late 2015.

If I remember the initial part of the process, he is entitled to having 3 ft of depth minimum for the length of his boat at either full lake or average depth (not sure the exact wording).

Whatever he was entitled to, it worked out to be a 60 ft dock, to be a seasonal dock (aluminum). The application went to the town conservation department, and after their review and approval, went to the state. There were a few questions they wanted answered, and ultimately approved the dock.

They did have restrictions that needed to be followed, the biggest one was that the dock had to be installed 25 ft parallel to his extended property line so as not to infringe on his neighbor's use of their property. (Not a problem anyway).

The whole process took around 4 or 5 months.

To give an idea of his water depth at the end of the dock, when we put it in, I wore chest waders, I am 6 ft tall, and the water was at mid - chest level. When we pulled the boats the 1st week in Oct, the boats were barely floating, and we had to walk the boats half way out the dock to lower the lower unit. We took the dock out 3 days later, and standing at the end of the dock, the water was just below my knees! Phew😨

He could have tried to replace an existing 30 ft seasonal dock with rollers on 2 sections, but after conversations with DES, they and his engineer suggested going with a new dock application. Worked out for him.

If you have questions, I suggest calling DES, they seem to be very helpful.

Info here is to the best of my feeble memory.

Dave



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Thanks, Dave. I appreciate all this detail.

The state definition of a slip for permitting purposes is 25' of dock length extending out from where the depth hits 3 feet at full lake.

Thanks Codeman. I knew the 3' came in there somewhere. And now that you mention 25 ' from the 3' depth, I remember that being part of the equation.
This is why I like this forum.
Dave

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