BLOOMFIELD, N.Y. — Some folks are more inclined than others to do things on a grand scale. That’s exactly what a Bloomfield man had in mind when he set out to build a new dock recently.
Eric Moon knew the day would come when he’d have to build a new dock to replace that rickety old one on the pond behind his home in Bloomfield. He also knew he couldn’t do it alone.
“Do it right the first time,” said Moon. “You won’t have to do it again.”
That’s the advice he recalls his father giving him. But building a dock from scratch can be a big task. And Moon is no engineer.
“I can add, subtract, multiply and divide,” said Moon. “That's about all you need to do to do something like this, you know?”
This is no ordinary project, and no ordinary dock. An old cardboard TV box held the blueprint to his dock. It’s a guitar-shaped piece of cardboard with numbers and dimensions scribbled on it -- a fully-floating six-string replica raft.
“I think people think I’m nuts,” said Moon. “I was going to the hardware stores and the home improvement stores, asking them where their guitar department was.”
Moon is a retired jazz and blues DJ who says guitar players have had a big impact on him.
“I guess being in the woods I could have done a banjo,” he laughed.
Like an unfinished song, the six weeks spent putting this thing together is only half the battle.
“It will float,” said Moon. “The question is, does it get there in one piece?”
On a recent summer night, Moon had some help answering that question. A few dozen of his closest friends showed up for a boat launch like no other. They eased 1,700 pounds of instrument-slash-flotation device down a steep hillside, while trying to keep it all together.
With one final push, Eric moon’s 32-foot-long dream came true. And yes — it floats.
“First impression is it’s still in one piece,” said Moon, who ironically doesn’t play guitar.
“I’m a used and abused old rock and roll drummer,” he laughed.
What followed the dock launch was a celebration of music, of summer and an idea crazy enough — that it actually worked.