Swamp Raft

Ephemerisle 2017

This document is an overview of our 12'x16' BYOL raft at Ephemerisle 2017.

We fit 8-10 people comfortably and tied to the end of an island of 5 sailboats. We used the raft for island docking, general hanging out, and sleeping. We even moved between islands at one point.

Swamp Raft was a 3 person project: we had 1 person handling logistics and materials, 1 (experienced) person driving the onsite construction, and 1 person directing the art. Additional people chipped in to help with construction. The whole build took about 4-5 hours on Thursday, working at medium speed and building entirely onsite (in the water!).

Materials

The basic materials cover (1) base platform, (2) shade structure, and (3) art. We’ve reproduced the base platform multiple times while shade and art vary per instance.

Base platform (12’x16’):

• Dock floats: six 8’x2’ or 8’x3’ dock floats (about 1.5' deep)
• Plywood: six pieces of 8’x4’ plywood (we used CDX)
• Outside frame: four 12’ 2”x4” wood beams
• Inner frame: four 93” 2”x4” wood beams (e.g. trimmed down from 8’)
• (lots of 3” screws and washers, impact driver, ropes and cable ties)

These materials cover two 12'x8' sub-platforms, which we connected together in series to build the larger platform. We also added cleats onto the edges for docking and towing.

Dock floats used

Base and frame materials for raft

For shade/art, we used a 10’ long x 8’ wide x 7’ tall carport frame drilled into the raft with four footpads. We had outdoor rug on the floor, ghillie netting along the walls, thatched bamboo on the roof, and a chandelier hung from the roof with yarn, flowers, and electric lights.

Building

Logistics

First step is getting all materials to a (single) build location at Ephemerisle. Luckily we had dock floats previously stored near Pirates Lair, and drove the rest of the material to Pirates Lair in a pickup. We then transported by boat from Pirates Lair to Ephemerisle: stacked, tied, and towed dock floats from Pirates Lair to Ephemerisle with a motorboat; carport poles and art supplies transported in a motorboat; plywood and wood beams transported on deck of larger sailboat.

Would have benefited from better planning here. Getting all materials in one place is not trivial when you are on the water! It is easy to lay plywood/beams on top of floats while towing, or build at Pirates Lair and tow a constructed platform, or perhaps transport materials with bigger projects.

Basic platform

Once at Ephemerisle, we tied our bundle of dock floats to a sailboat and built onsite in the water. We built two 12’x8’ platforms and connected them in series to make a single 12’x16’ platform.

1. Floats: Started by screwing the edges of three of the dock floats into the 12’ wood beam, leaving gaps between each float to cover the full length of the beam. Then screwed the second 12’ wood beam onto the other side of the dock floats. 4” side goes vertically so you can get good grip from the screw.
2. Plywood: Attach plywood, then 8' wood beam underneath, then plywood, then 8’ wood beam, then plywood across the surface of the dock floats. 4” side on wood beam goes horizontally so you can connect adjoining pieces of plywood. Perfect fit may allow additional screws from the outside 12’ beam into the internal 8’ beams.
3. Double the platform: Screw another 12’ wood beam onto one side of the first 12’x8’ platform, then build the same thing again.

Each 12’x8’ platform takes 30min-1hr and is a 2-person job when done in the water (one person to hold pieces together; one person to fasten). We only needed an impact driver and 3” screws + washers.

Additional features

Once the basic platform is built, easy to add on top of it.

We put four 8’x6’ outdoor carpet rugs (cheapest ones from Home Depot). The outdoor rugs are much more comfortable than outdoor turf and do not get as hot during the day. Built skeleton roof of the carport and did basic decoration. Screwed in footpads and then hoisted the full carport into the footpads. Attached netting along the sides and did final decorations. Added a cleat onto the side of the platform. Would have brought more cleats had we known how highly used these would be for docking and towing!

Our raft was mainly used for sitting/lying down, so we left a mostly open roof and made the floor super comfy. We were able to fit 8-10 people at a time comfortably, with corridors of space outside the shade walls for coolers/bags/etc and for climbing on and off.

Swamp raft during the day

Swamp tent sunset view

Daytime view of raft

Observations

• Experienced no structural issues. We fit up to 10 people comfortably and also towed the raft to visit different islands.
• We divided project ownership across (1) logistics/materials, (2) onsite building, and (3) art and shade. We benefited from having dock floats owned and transported ahead of time.
• We had 3 people committed to support the project, and helpful hands coming in and out during construction. Transporting materials and building onsite typically required 2 people at a time.
• Shade is awesome during the day and open air is awesome at night. One improvement I would splurge on next time is an easy way to roll up and down our ceiling and even some of the walls.
• We used the raft for: sleeping, eating, storage, docking visitors to the larger island, general hanging out.
• (All notes at General BYOL Considerations apply.)

Shoutouts

Building wasn’t possible without the help of the community! Thanks to Peter McEvoy for help building the platform, to Mandy Bliss for artistic vision, to John Shannon for use of dock floats, to Trevor Ellermann for hosting us on Notan Island, to Michael/Stellar/Brian/Peter for transporting materials, and to DIY Island and Elysium for letting us park during arrival and departure.

Any questions, recommendations, or tips on how you built your own structure? Email bregman90@gmail.com or message me on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/ben.bregman).