The Project: Building a dock box that goes wherever we go
The why
Having a home port means you get to set up camp a bit. Settle in. Have a few items in place and ready to greet you every time you return to dock. Dock bumpers, dock lines custom set to where you like the boat to sit at dock, maybe a storage box for fuel cans. For us, one of those items is a dock box. Wild Horses sits a little high at most docks which makes getting aboard an exercise on the best of days but truly challenging with any soreness, injury or fatigue. It is also quite the jump up for our pup Ocean. Add in slippery decks from a recent rain and you have the potential for injury. Enter: The Dock Box. We have always had one with Wild Horses and it has served us well in our home slip. But, we have found things challenging when we go to other marinas or yacht clubs with Wild Horses. We have a plastic portable step that works for us in a pinch but Ocean (our pup) refuses to use it. To make our lives (and her life) easier, we decided the best option was to create a foldable version of our beloved dock box, one that is light to carry and could easily be stored on Wild Horses.
Having a home port means you get to set up camp a bit. Settle in. Have a few items in place and ready to greet you every time you return to dock. Dock bumpers, dock lines custom set to where you like the boat to sit at dock, maybe a storage box for fuel cans. For us, one of those items is a dock box. Wild Horses sits a little high at most docks which makes getting aboard an exercise on the best of days but truly challenging with any soreness, injury or fatigue. It is also quite the jump up for our pup Ocean. Add in slippery decks from a recent rain and you have the potential for injury. Enter: The Dock Box. We have always had one with Wild Horses and it has served us well in our home slip. But, we have found things challenging when we go to other marinas or yacht clubs with Wild Horses. We have a plastic portable step that works for us in a pinch but Ocean (our pup) refuses to use it. To make our lives (and her life) easier, we decided the best option was to create a foldable version of our beloved dock box, one that is light to carry and could easily be stored on Wild Horses.
The plan
Design a dock box that is both light and foldable. Our wood of choice was cedar as it is light, does well in the elements and requires little maintenance to preserve it.
Design a dock box that is both light and foldable. Our wood of choice was cedar as it is light, does well in the elements and requires little maintenance to preserve it.
The cost
Hardware $120
Cedar $180
Labour $0
Total $300 CAD
Hardware $120
Cedar $180
Labour $0
Total $300 CAD
Getting it done
As with most projects, the design of the dock box took the most time. The idea was to build the box to the same dimensions as our last dock box but we wanted as few separate pieces as possible (for easy set up). We also wanted the whole box to fold flat so that it could be stored in our stern lazarette.
Purchasing the cedar was easy. Finding the right hardware to meet our needs was not. Set hinges would work for the folds but wouldn't work for the pieces that had to be removed. For that piece of the construction we planned to use door hinges, ones that locked in place but could also unlock on demand. Searches for the right door hinges at the big box home improvement stores went unsuccessful. Where did we finally find the perfect hinges? Our neighbourhood Home Hardware. Beautiful.
As with most projects, the design of the dock box took the most time. The idea was to build the box to the same dimensions as our last dock box but we wanted as few separate pieces as possible (for easy set up). We also wanted the whole box to fold flat so that it could be stored in our stern lazarette.
Purchasing the cedar was easy. Finding the right hardware to meet our needs was not. Set hinges would work for the folds but wouldn't work for the pieces that had to be removed. For that piece of the construction we planned to use door hinges, ones that locked in place but could also unlock on demand. Searches for the right door hinges at the big box home improvement stores went unsuccessful. Where did we finally find the perfect hinges? Our neighbourhood Home Hardware. Beautiful.
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Once all materials were acquired, next came the build. The separate pieces were easy to construct but the fit took a bit of finessing. Overall, it was about three days of work. Big shout out to our good friends Bruce and Carol on this - they offered us use of their large wood shop, outfitted with every took a carpenter would ever need or wish for. Thank you!!!
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And how does it look? Amazing! It is sturdy, foldable and, most important, Ocean approved.
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