Pop 'n Lock

Ah, the rites of spring: new life abounds, spirits lift, warmth returns, docks are refurbished...

One of these things is not like the other you say? Well, my friend, then you have clearly never enjoyed the rejuvenating excersise that is the cleansing, draining, plugging, and re-assembly of a JetFloat dock.

Think large, floatable Legos: our dock is a modular affair, composed of sturdy, buoyant blocks held together by pins that fit neatly into four overlapping tabs on the corner of each block. While theoretically waterproof, enough wear and tear on the Harlem River renders the blocks a tad soggy. Add the effects of flocks of Canadian geese over the course of a year, and you have one honking mess.

So what's a rower to do? Time to bust out scrub brushes, scrapers, giant hex wrench, and plumbers tape! Yes, it's about as much fun as it sounds, but many hands make light work, and after a few chilly mornings, we had the pieces ready to go.

Little did we suspect that the hardest task was ahead of us, for despite the somewhat clunky appearance of the floats and pins, we discovered that assembly demanded considerable precision: the tabs on the corner of each block must be aligned in perfect sequence, and one tab out of place throws off the entire setup, like a giant sudoku puzzle.

Mental and logic tests aside, we were challenged by an unexpected need for brute force to jam the connecting pins through the tab, and then wrench them around with a special key designed just for these pieces. Our kung-fu technique improved quickly as we learned how to aim our kicks just-so, and soon we had the pins popping in with a satisfying click, followed by our Keymasters locking the pieces in place.

Much of this assembly was accomplished on land, but eventually we had figure out how to attach large sections of dock to the ramp that connects to the shoreline, without letting any section float downstream a la Huck Finn. This required an understanding of fluid dynamics that was somewhat lacking in our group of intrepid dockworkers, but somehow we prevailed, and unlike the process of removing the dock for winterizing, no one went for a swim in the still-frigid waters of the Harlem this time.

I hope I speak for the group when I say I have never seen a more beauteous dock in my life; the long stretch of black blocks resting lightly upon the water, warm in the late afternoon sun, yeilded an enormously satisfying feeling of accomplishment. Woe to any geese who dare sully the fruits of our labor!

We stand victorious, and ready to ROW!