Dock Builders in Delray Beach, FL

Delray Beach was split from its beach by the dredging of the Florida East Coast Canal, today's Intracoastal Waterway, and dock builders here work along that channel and the residential canals off it. Drawbridges at Linton Boulevard and George Bush Boulevard carry traffic to A1A, and downtown can be reached by boat. The city also runs a municipal marina with rental slips south of the Atlantic Avenue bridge.

When davits make sense

Boat davits are cranes, usually in pairs, that mount to a seawall cap or a dock and lift a small boat straight up out of the water. They are a good fit when:

• The boat is a tender, skiff, jet ski or small center console
• The waterway is narrow and a full lift would crowd the channel
• The seawall is strong and you want little or no structure in the water

Davits can be manual or electric. Electric units save a lot of cranking but need a safe power supply near the wall.

When a lift is the better choice

For heavier boats, davits are not the answer. A boat lift spreads the load onto pilings and cradles the hull with bunks shaped for it. Delray owners with larger center consoles or walkarounds that run out of the inlets to the north and south usually end up with a four-post or elevator lift. We size it to the loaded weight and check depth at low tide so the boat floats off cleanly.

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The seawall carries the load

Every davit mounts to something, and most of the time that is the seawall cap. Before we install, we inspect the cap for cracks, spalling and exposed rebar, and we look for signs the wall is leaning or losing soil behind it. A wall that is fine for holding back the yard may still need reinforcement to carry a davit's point loads, especially with a boat swinging in wind.

Building the dock around it

If you are building a new dock, plan the lift or davits at the same time. It is far easier to set lift pilings during dock construction than to add them later. We draw the dock, the lift and the boat in plan view so you can see clearances, walking space and how you will load gear.

Delray's history on the water

William Linton began selling land here in 1894 for a farming community. Two years later the Florida East Coast Railroad reached a station at Linton, and the settlement was renamed Delray in 1901. Japanese farmers from the nearby Yamato Colony joined civic life after 1905. The waterway that once served farms now serves boat owners, and docks are part of most waterfront homes.

Permits

Davits, lifts and docks generally need a building permit, and work in or over the water can involve Palm Beach County, state and federal approvals. We tell you which apply once we see the site.