Getting your Floating Dock ready for Hurricanes: 

Ok, so we have another visitor in the gulf, Gustav, and those of you with floating docks might be wondering how to set them up to weather Hurricane Gustav or any other hurricane.

Chances are that your dock was installed for normal water variation conditions with a little extra anchoring for good measure.  Know that no dock (floating or fixed) is designed to withstand Category 3, 4 or 5 winds, but here are some tips that could help you save your property from being lost or completely destroyed should you encounter winds of 125 mph or more:

• However your dock is anchored, make sure that it has a secondary tie off to something you know you won't loose.  This can be done with braided steel cable attached to the anchor points on your dock and then attached to something on shore that is immovable.  Attaching as low to the ground as you can is key. Examples of immovable items:
  • Your home's foundation
  • Piles driven to hold either retaining walls or your dock
  • Home foundation piles
  • Telephone or Electrical poles
  • You can obtain trailer tie downs from your local home center.  These are long thin steel poles with a big screw on the end.  These come in several lengths.  If you have no other immovables to tie down to, these can work in a pinch.
• If your dock is roofed with sheet metal, remove the sheet metal, leaving just the frame.  This will reduce the wind resistance and possibly save your dock.

Remember, the goal isn't to keep your floating dock exactly where it is right now, the goal is to keep it from leaving your property all together.  Given a high enough tidal surge, your dock will float off of even the highest pilings.  Most floating docks can be recovered and re-anchored, they just need to be close enough for you to find them and for the dock not to end up down river at your neighbors for them to recover and enjoy!