First attempt

The stairs/landing has proved to more of a challenge than originally expected. The goals of avoiding steep long stairs, matching appearance with the gang plank and creating easy access has been enormously complicated by the varying slope, the need for the stairs to "float" on the gangway and not be attached to it (due to the rise and fall of the water level) and the imperfect alignment of the installed posts.

We had first planned on a short flight of steps to a landing and then a longer flight to the dock, but the nature of the slope changed this design to a "terraced" box plan involving three landings and stairs at the end. We abandoned this design because of the steep stairs required and the run or length running onto the gangway.

We have now settled on Deb's modification of the terraced plan which raises the number of landings from 3 to 5.

Today we cut wood and temporarily nailed in three of the landings to find if it would work. The pics below show today's efforts.

Next week we will remove the three boxes and add a total of 4 posts to create the five landings or boxes. The height at the end will mean only three steps to the gangway.

Reading the above makes me laugh. It all sounds so reasoned and logical. The truth is anything but logical and calm. Deb and I argued hotly and as usual, she won. Bitter ending for me, I spent tens and tens of hours planning, estimating, researching and trying on approaches, Deb comes out, eyes our work and 30 seconds later makes "suggestions" which border on genius. My pain doesn't end there however, little John added in his design, written on paper, which included a ladder/slide down to the gangway.

Very clever in it's own way, but a slide would be hard on some people. We asked him to think of grandpa Jack sliding down to the gangway, and then trying to get back up.







John using grandpas nail gun which is almost as big as he is.

Location:S Kiger Rd,Independence,United States