All Hands On ‘Dock’ For Taunton Lake Family

By Nancy K. Crevier

When weed-infested waters make a dive off of the end of the dock an unpleasant experience, what is a lakeside dweller to do? Rob Lynders found the solution to that problem this spring, when a wild wind broke free his dock from the gangway, and put into motion an idea that the Taunton Lake resident had been mulling over for “at least five years.”

He lag-bolted a 2-by-6 to the side of the 10- by 12-foot now-floating raft and mounted a 38-pound, battery operated, thrust motor onto it. The motorized dock was born.

“You always see these big floaters advertised for sale in magazines, but they are expensive and we didn’t want to leave anything out there [permanently on the lake],” said Cristina Lynders. Her husband’s motorized dock enables the family to have the fun and freedom of a floating raft, and still be able to dock it safely when it is not in use.

“It seemed like a no-brainer to me to do something like this,” said Mr Lynders on a recent late summer day, as he unscrewed the oversized bolts that attach the motorized dock to the gangway. “But it was the storm that really decided it for me.”

Since May the Lynders, including 18-month-old Kathryn, and friends and family have been throwing a couple of Adirondack chairs and a cooler full of cold drinks onto the dock and heading out into the middle of the lake to kick back and enjoy the serenity of the lake.

“We’ll hang out there for hours,” said Mr Lynders, who added that they have puttered quietly away from their landing with up to eight people aboard. They have docked their kayaks to it, and tethered an additional foam roll-out dock to it at times, to create a private flotilla.

“It’s so much nicer out in the middle of the lake. You get away from the weed problem, and it’s very deep there — 30 feet — so we can fish or swim or take the kayak out from it, or just read and relax,” said Mr Lynders.

He has found that it takes two large boat anchors to keep the motorized dock from drifting across the lake, and keeps a set of oars on board, “Just in case….”

Six large floats stabilize and keep the dock afloat, and it takes just the most minimal movement of the motor to redirect the float. “Docking it is the hardest, because it doesn’t really have a front like a regular boat, so it is hard to steer it in,” Mr Lynders said, but with a little finesse — and preferably an extra pair of hands to guide it in between the metal poles — the motorized dock is eased into “port” when the day is done.

To Mr Lynders, a sculptor who “plays with toys all day” sculpting action figures for companies like DC Comics, a motorized dock seemed an obvious use of the wooden platform, but to others who have lived on Taunton Lake for years, it is a novel idea.

Neighbor Russ Strasburger was so impressed with the Lynders’ motorized dock that “We copied it. It’s Rob’s deal, though,” said Mr Strasburger, who mounted a trolling motor onto his dock platform this summer, too. “We put the lawn chairs on it and head out to enjoy the day,” said Mr Strasburger, adding, “We’re having a wonderful time doing it.”

The more the merrier, said Mr Lynders. “Can you imagine four or six of these things tethered together out in the center of the lake?” he asked. “You could have a cook out.”

This summer has been a lot of fun, admitted Mr Lynders, but he has more ideas in store for the future. “My real plan is to kite surf off of it,” he said. “It’s like windsurfing, but with a kite and wake board. I’m just waiting for that northwest wind….”