A Marina in Maleny?
What we made from 2 old pontoons
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A marina in Maleny?.
We've been wading through deep sleazy mud to swim ever since we came to Middle Path - which isn't so bad really.
But getting out after the swim involves the same effort and we emerge covered in grey slimy ooze.
Which has had a discouraging influence on enjoying the water.
So we decided to build a bridge to get us in and out of the clear water.
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Work starts on mooring pad.
The winds over the water can get quite fierce and so the pontoons needed to be securely fastened to the land.
Two 1.5-metre concrete stumps and a 2 square metre slab looked adequate to the task.
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Placing mesh for slab.
The slab has numerous 100mm mini-piers to make sure the whole structure is firmly integrated with the land.
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Starting slab pour.
We mixed the concrete ourselves and added 2 stirrups to secure the ends of the beams which will hold the pivots for the gangplank to the pontoons.
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Adding sandstone.
The last remnants of the sandstone from the Temple floors and surrounds was just perfect to provide a natural, non-slip surface for the mooring pad.
These are laid directly on the wet cement to make a secure bond and avoid the extra step of laying them on a cured slab.
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Slab, sandstone complete.
That's what it looked like when the cement and sandstone were finished.
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Pontoon parts.
These are the pontoons we discovered on gumtree - still in excellent condition after 30 years or so.
They obviously needed some highly specialised fitting to connect them together and we weren't able to locate any after several nights of scouring the internet.
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Pontoon assembled.
My final search was an afterthought - the manufacturers name was embossed on the pontoons and, expecting nothing, I tried it.
I was delighted to discover that the company had changed its name, was still alive and thriving and was located just 25 minutes away in Caloundra.
A phone call established that they knew exactly what was needed and had a bin full at the factory!
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Poling the pontoon.
We wanted to make sure the pontoon and the mooring pad would work with each other and it seemed the simplest solution was to bring the pontoons, now joined together, to the pad so that the options for connecting them could be explored.
A rectangle pontoon can be moved by poling - just like a gondola; steering it is an entirely different matter.
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Positioning pontoon.
Eventually we arrived at the site.
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Pontoon positioned.
It didn't take long to lash the pontoons in place and butcher an old above-ground pool ladder to provide an exit from the water.
It worked - not well - but with a healthy dose of determination we could now get out of the water with clean legs.
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Beams in place.
The grouting of the sandstone was finished with what was intended to be red, yellow and brown ochres.
We also decorated the grouting with various bits and pieces of glass from the workshop and came up with a technique which reminded us of Australian artworks.
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Work starts on the gangplank.
Having decided on a design I was fortunate to have the family come for a few days after Christmas and press ganged them into helping with the gangplank and decking.
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Pontoon back in dry dock.
It was very quickly obvious that the pontoon needed to be dry-docked to fit the decking and it wasn't nearly so simple getting it out of the water as it had been to get it in.
After a - at times hilarious - struggle, the pontoon was eventually beached and we could start adding the decking framing.
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Pontoon deck framing.
The framing is made from some well-seasoned red ironbark 3X2s (75X50mm) we had "lying around".
In a moment of extravagance we opted to use stainless fittings and fixings throughout and were pleasantly surprised at how inexpensive they could be sourced over the internet.
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Pontoon decking nearing completion.
There was no decking to be found on site and so we had to buy some. After looking at the contents of several demolition yard and various online sites it seemed the best option would be to bit the bullet and go with new decking which would be kind to bare feet.
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Gangplank arrives.
The gangplank which connects the pontoon to the land was brought down from the workshop on a trailer - the idea being it would slide gracefully off and come gently to rest against the edge of the pontoon ready to fit the screws.
And it did to the general amazement of all who saw it happen!
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Pontoon re launched.
Moving the bedecked pontoon into place was a major undertaking - we had originally launched it with just a few rollers and had several sets of youthful muscles to get it out od the water onto the "dry dock".
Now it had what felt like a tonne of hardwood added to it and 2 u-channel beams running underneath which created a totally different situation.
We persevered and finally were rewarded with a re floated pontoon with decking.
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Pontoon back at mooring.
It was even more cumbersome to steer through the water and it was brought back to its mooring via a very erratic course.
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Connecting gangplank to pontoon.
The water level in the dam can vary well over a metre between times of heavy downpours and prolonged dry spells, so the connections had to accommodate a lot of travel if the decking was to stay level.
4 heavy duty stainless hinges at the pontoon end and 2 large stainless bolts through the beams did the job very effectively.
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Mooring pontoon.
The final stages of connecting the marina, the far edge of the pontoon is over about 2 metres of water which is perfect for our needs.
It has a very aquatic feel when walked on and does take a moment or two to acquire the "sea-legs" needed to stay upright and relaxed while others move around on the deck.
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Adding anchor chains.
Due to the occasional strong winds across the waters surface we decided to use anchor chains to resist any lateral movement and reduce the stress on the main bolts to a minimum.
Connecting the chains to the pontoon was a tense moment as anything dropped would be instantly lost forever in the grey ooze beneath the water.
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Marina complete.
At last the marina is complete and ready for customers - the only vessel which has sought a berth so far has been our canoe but if ever a seaplane is forced to land - we're ready!
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