Regardless of what it's made from, a dock ' whether sitting in fresh or salt water ' is one of the most basic tools of boating equipment. Valuable? Undoubtedly, but attractive or utile beyond its basic function of providing a parking spot for your boat ' not really.

There are, however, several products on the market that can go a long way toward making your dock a safer (and dare we say, more attractive?) environment for your boat, in addition to serving as a platform that can be more useful to your boating endeavors.

WATCH YOUR TOES
Whether or not your dock is new, one of the first steps ' if you'll excuse the pun ' is attending to the cleats. Wearing sandals (or open-toed, 4-inch, stiletto heels) around a dock isn't a smart idea and is one of the primary reasons boating shoes exist. Shoe preferences aside, a safe and easy upgrade to your dock is replacing standard cleats with pop-up or folding cleats. A company by the name of Dock Edge (www.dockedge.com, 905/790-0444) makes solid aluminum/powder coated models in 6- and 8-inch sizes, the latter being a three-bolt mount, the former, a two-bolt mount. Price range is approximately $20 to $30; not cheap, considering that regular galvanized cleats in those two sizes go for around $3 to $6. Cleats can also be had in nylon and aluminum. What you use depends on how valuable you consider your toes or how persistently clumsy you and your family and friends are.

Another type is called the Cleat Seat (look for it at West Marine stores, www.westmarine.com). At around $30, this isn't cheap either, but it's made of UV-resistant nylon composite, has a beefy four-bolt base into which the cleat nestles and is available in black or white.

PROTECTING YOUR INVESTMENT
You don't want your dock to be the cause of any damage to your boat, so you'll want to pad it. You can go simple ' get some old fire hose from your local fire department ' and use galvanized nails to fasten it, or go with the variety of space-age material versions of bumpers available. In case of the former, mount the surplus hose flat around your dock's perimeter. Or you can fasten it to the dock in a rippled or wave-shaped fashion, forming it into a reverse 'U' shape every 6 to 8 inches or so, double nailing it (top and bottom) before or after every loop. The latter method will provide slightly more padding than the former, but both
will prevent your boat from coming into contact with something hard. A wave-shaped piece is available from Dockmate (look for it at Overton's, www.overtons.com) in heavy-duty PVC. It comes in 25-foot rolls in gray, white and beige at around $45 a roll with hardware (nails).

Depending on the person's skills that's docking the boat, a better option might be a few of the various dock-specific bumpers. These mount (generally in two ways) with a lip on the walking surface side of the dock and the vertical side, or completely on the vertical side of the dock. Dock cleats might interfere with the style that mount atop/on the side of the dock, so note that before you choose. These guards are made from a variety of rubber/vinyl/thermoplastic materials. P-shaped bumper guards, C-shaped and full flat faced are some of the shapes you'll find. Some will be solid; others will have some form of plastic bracing poked inside the loops, while others won't. Most of these types of bumpers are available in 20-foot sections or rolls; the longer the roll or section, the less seams, the less there is to be torn loose.

For corners, you can get 90-degree shaped pieces. It's not a bad idea to go with the thickest, most solid bumper here. And no matter how good you are at docking, this should be mandatory. Taylor Made (518/773-0636, www.taylormadeproducts.com) and others make dock wheels specifically for this corner application. They're inflatable (to a degree), and come with galvanized metal mounting brackets and axles. Available in different sizes according to your boat's heft, most retail between around $69 and $129. For those of you with dock pilings to deal with as well, there are also similar bumpers for warding off damage at this location.

As for attachment, screws generally work best with all the aforementioned material. You'll definitely need a screw gun because you're talking about a lot of screwing. Those with aluminum docks will have the added fun of having to drill tap holes first and then use self-tapping screws (one reason why you don't see padding on too many docks made of that particular material).

Mooring whips are other products you may want to consider. Designed for boats in high-wake areas, they're dock-mounted and are bent over your boat and tied to your cleats from waterside, and act as a spring pulling your boat away from the dock. They're rated by the weight of the boat they have to pull off the dock and retail from around $200 to $400-plus. Check out those from Monarch (800/793-3833, www.monarchproducts.com).

A twist on the mooring whip principle is done by a small Florida outfit called Moor King (888/281-7668, www.moor-king.com). These are made of stainless steel, contain both a whip and spring, and rather than reaching over your boat and pulling it off the dock, they function more like a pair of very strong legs, keeping your boat and dock apart. This works on boats from small to a lot larger than most of us will ever pilot.

Another helpful product, Dock D'Fender, was introduced about three years ago by Buoyant Solutions (269/641-2521, www.dockdefender.com). It consists of some hardware and some fenders. All the parts mount on metal (go with iron) poles, and you end up with sort of a clamp, mounted vertically with a
fender held between the clamp heads. This does away with all the aforementioned material (and installation labor) and will seriously stop your boat from making contact with your dock. Price varies from around $96 to $134 depending on size. These are worth a look.

In summation, regarding bumpers and padding: You know your skills, your boat's maneuverability and the spatial and specific environmental demands of the waters where your dock is located. So make adjustments accordingly, padding anything hard that could possibly come into contact with your boat.

KEEPING IT PRETTY
Many of you are not so lucky when it comes to flying critters and fly-bys. So what do you do? For starters: Those of you with flat-topped pilings, get those pointed plastic caps that fit on top of the piling. They make perching less hospitable and are usually available in black or white and in various sizes.

You can try phony owls; you can try wind-driven spinners; you can build a spider's web of fishing line every time you leave your boat ... heck, they even sell inflatable snakes you can fling about the boat. Anything will work for a time, but flying critters ' especially gulls ' smarten up quick. One new product on the market that seems to hold some promise is the Repel-A-Bird by Bird Barrier (800/503-5444, www.birdbarrier.com). It mounts on logical places for birds to settle and has long, springy stainless-steel wires that look like they'd annoy the heck out of anything getting near them. The website has a cool feature called 'Got a bird problem?' Describe it in 60 words, and they'll tell you what to do about it.
The best that can be said or done about this particular problem is to look at your boat from a literal bird's eye view, figure out what birds would see as sitting areas ' and the approaches to those areas ' and make it as difficult and inhospitable as possible for birds to get to that spot.

SAVING STUFF
It's amazing how much junk can grow within the boat's confines over the course of a season. One way to limit the accumulation of 'stuff' and the boat's concomitant weight gain is to install a storage locker on your dock.

Dock boxes (made of fiberglass) are available in just about every size imaginable. You can get them from 3- to 7-feet wide, and they're generally around 2 feet high and 2 feet deep. A vertical model, about 6.5 feet tall, can also be found. The largest boxes hold about 30 cubic feet of 'stuff.' Look for stainless-steel hardware and piano hinges; a drain isn't a bad idea either. If the dockbox is mounted on a floating dock, fasten it to the dock.

A dockbox, if you're handy with wood and fiberglass, makes a great off-season project since they run in the $300 to $500 range (the vertical style around $800).

C'MON ABOARD
Depending on how high your boat's gunwale is off your dock, you may want a step up so people can board. Some are simply two steps; some have storage under one step; some are single step; some have handrails, but all should have non-skid on the walking surface. Remember ' especially those with larger craft who will be bringing nonboaters, older folk or younger folk aboard ' if your cockpit depth versus the step and gunwale height varies widely, you'll need another step in your cockpit.

June 2005