April 23, 2020

TITLE: THE DOCKS ON LAKE ARROWHEAD: Fishing, boating, family and friends always brings us to the subject of docks on Lake Arrowhead. The iconic picture of the young boy fishing off the dock says it all. Early launching and retrieving of boats took place at Orchard Bay Tent Camp. The entrance was located at Highway 173 and John Muir where the existing house with the turret is located. The other early site was in Tavern Bay where UCLA Conference Center is located. Today the present location is at the marina near the dam. During the winters in the 1920s and 1930s the Arrowhead Lake Company stored 200-plus docks finger-to-finger in Shelter Cove and Winter Harbor, tying them off to the shoreline. Today over 2700 docks are attached to permanent piers around the lake all year long. The first docks were built with oil drum floats and over the years, they changed to steel floats, fiberglass floats, and then eventually the foam-filled plastic floats used today. The original dock slips were 8 feet wide to accommodate the narrow wooden boats used back then, and currently the slips are 10 feet wide to fit the size of modern boats. Dock fingers were 2 feet wide and today are 3-4 feet wide to an overall width of 17 feet versus the 12 feet of yesteryear. Therefore, the original 8 feet of separation between the docks has been compromised over the years. The shape of the slips has also changed from a V shape to a U shape with the most current slips having slight cut-off corners to accommodate the wider fiberglass and pontoon boats of today. With the docks on the lake, they provide the leisure activities for family and friends to enjoy Lake Arrowhead as many have done so since the 1920s. Eddy Juan, the marina manager, is credited for developing the Lake Arrowhead Green color that most of the docks were painted in the day. The paint is still available at Rim Forest Lumber Company. By Greg Naylor – Guest Columnist, Image from Greg Naylor Collection.