Dock Work

My annual dock installation routine started early this year to take advantage of the very low water conditions at the TFF. The bottom of the steps leading to the dock had no support on the non railing side and the hillside under the stairs was beginning to erode. The main improvement was to add the two large rock shown just below the steps and the rearrange the rocks on either side. I also graded the slope leading up to the steps from the lake.


The lake is typically high enough to float the dock section into place. This year there was about 10 feet of sloped shore to deal with. Notice the large greenish rock just past the dock, it was sticking up a few inches and looked to be a in the way so after an hour or so of digging the rock was extracted from the lake bed. It's a nice rock though, I'll find a use for it.


Now for the real challenge. The dock secton is 6'x16' and weighs about a ton. I had just enough pieces of chain, tow straps and a come-along to reach a huge maple about 75' up the hill. Winch, pry, lift, shove was the trick. I used the come-along to put as much tension as I dared on the system, then E and I used pry bars to lift and shove the dock toward the shore. Progress was slow but in the end the dock was in place and secure to the shore with some new chain clevises.

Spring Rubarb and Mint

We thought this was an interesting pic. I like the lines of the wood table and the recurring diamond shape of the rock and the rhubarb spec on the side of the glass. The perennial (and now invasive) mint was already plentiful on this early May evening. The glass is from the San Francisco MOMA. It has a blue semicircular indentation in the bottom that appears to be a floating orb if you look into the top of the glass and it casts a blue tint in the Reyka vodka.