Boat Dock Story

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The Story of Our New Boat Dock

A year went by and our dock began to list to the side. The floats were losing their stuffing. Steve Marrinan began to develop an "RFP" (Request For Proposal). He began to attend boat shows and visit existing docks along the Columbia river. He learned the new materials and the various new construction techniques developed since our original dock was constructed. He began to form opinions. Next Steve sent other board member teams out for site visits. Gerry Vincent and & I were one such team. We found that most dock owners were in a process of continual upgrading and repair of their existing facilities. We learned there is a trade off between cheapest one time cost and subsequent yearly maintenance costs. We learned who were the established contractors in the vicinity and what their was expertise. Gerry & I began to form opinions too.

Finally, Steve produced the RFP, Several copies, bound… and in color. Steve had identified the likely bidders on our job and we finally got 3 bids for the construction. There was a low cost bidder, a higher cost bidder with years of experience, and a one man shop. We interviewed the three at a board meeting and the discussions began. What we sought was a quality job with a lower cost of ownership for a 5~10 year period. (The previous dock lasted about 15 years.) We decided on the one man shop… Dirk Swanson. Our reasoning was this: No one contractor both makes the materials and does the labor. We'd already decided on the materials so we looked for expertise and imagination. An under appreciated cost in any project is the cost of management oversight, delays and disputes. Dirk was easy to work with. He was flexible on the contract terms and agreed with our goals for the delivered product. Dirk also allowed us to contract and pay for the materials directly. That simplified our oversight concerns and gave us more control over the flow of the expenses. By keeping our materials in our boat house under lock and key, we reduced possible theft and insurance costs. We saved money and time choosing Dirk.

Then, instead of beginning, we began with a problem in getting a permit. Ouch! I love the salmon as much as anyone in the Northwest, but I began to have doubts about the process. The City's concerns were valid and the EPA laws are in fact reasonable once you read them. And, it turned out that we had friends to help us.

• There is no endangered salmon run in Lacamas Lake.
• This was a repair project not new construction.
• We were replacing like with like.
• If we used different materials, they were more environmentally friendly.
• This is a private dock on property we own.
• No trees will be removed from the shoreline.
• No dredging will be done.

We filled out the EPA/SEPA/Shoreline Protection act forms with particular attention to the law and our situation. And, we got our permits. Thank you City of Camas, Camas Police Department, and Washington State University: School of Earth and Environmental Science.

Now, how would the work progress? Dirk began in the cold rain of January/February. We'd given him the space in front of the boat house to fence off and use as a work place. He could work without using portable power and keep his tools inside the locked boat house. He liked the arrangement. He was dry and the tools did not have to be ported in and out of the work site. By March/April we could see things begin to take shape. The forms of our old dock was recast in fiberglass and steel. The workmanship was superb. From the board point of view, there were no troubles managing the contract. Many neighbors and visitors from the nature trail came by to watch and comment on the progress. One time I counted 11 people conferring on the shape of the pier collars. I never heard anything but praise from anyone. As we approached the June 1st completion date, I began to worry. Does any project finish on time? No, not in my experience. What we had here was typical: mission creep. But mission creep of a good sort. We'd been pretty much spot on with the RFP. But Dirk is an expert and as the job progressed, he saw places for improvement. Steve Marrinan would meet with Dirk several times a week and discuss things. A small change here would give better results there. Surprise! We'd achieved savings what with the permitting success, allowing Dirk to have a secure and dry work space, and getting the materials on time. Dirk allowed us to apply those savings to the changes so the overall cost did not increase. Today, June 9th, the dock is ready for use. There are some finishing touches, but Dirk says that he can work around any neighbor who wants to launch their boat. The boat house is vacated and ready for use by the boat club. Let the boating season begin.

The finishing touches that I know about are:

•	The bumpers about the outer edges need to be applied on a warm/hot day so they conform tightly to the dock edges.
•	Some cotter pins will replace the bolts now in place.
•	Dirk & Steve have a depth gauge device they want to make/install so boat launchers can tell if the water level is too low for a safe launch.
•	The steel feet that protect the floats if the water level is too low need adjusting.
•	... maybe something else that I don't understand.

By the time we have a boat club meeting, the above may be already done. But please make room for Dirk if he is there working on our dock. We intend to have a dock christening party and ribbon cutting. We'll post the info on the Backfence.