Thank God its Dock Day

One advantage of getting 'Piao' in the water early is that there are few other boats out on Buzzards Bay in the month of May.  It seems like you have the whole ocean to yourself.  On the other hand, one big disadvantage of an early-bird launch is that, in order to get to the boat, I am obliged to haul my dinghy out through mud in the absence of a functioning dock.  I am talking about deep, thick black mud that can suck the boots right off your legs.  At low tide, you often sink up to your knees in mud just a few feet from the high tide mark.

Dexter's Cove at low tide.  The docks are in, but not floating.  My dinghy, "Ruf Ride," sits in the foreground.

Those of us who moor our boats at "Dexter's Cove" pay the local property owner $350 a year for access to a floating dinghy dock with a freshwater line.  However, as he no longer owns a boat himself, he is typically not in a hurry to get the floating dock back in the water.  The situation is complicated by the fact that we must wait for an astronomical (or at least an unusually high) high tide to have enough water depth to launch the docks.

We missed the opportunity in May, and the lack of preparation work down at the cove led me to worry that we might miss the June high tide as well.  You can imagine my relief when things came together at the last minute and a bunch of us were able to get the floating docks in the water.

Dexter's Cove at high tide -- a 5'6" difference from low tide this day.
The docks are floating now, but still need to be moved into place at the end of the stone pier.

Each year, I look forward wistfully to the day when I can finally rinse out the dinghy and put away my knee-high water boots.  Thank God its Dock Day......