2Old2Soon,
Perhaps you missed my suggestion. I agree, the safest way in and out of the boat is to have it floating next to a floating section of dock so that their heights are always similar. However my point was that your pond goes up and down significantly as do the other ground water ponds in your area. This is why you need the floating section to be on a hinge. The floating section could be close to horizontal and close to the plan of the fixed section when water is high, or at almost a 40 degree angle downwards when the level is very low (thus the raised horizontal treads you designed in the down part of the gangplank to prevent slipping)
My thought was, with the right application of soilfloc all the other ground water ponds around you would go up and down and yours would stay full to the brim. This means that your floating section would still be very useful to allow for the little natural fluctuation of the pond from evaporation and big rain events, but for the most part, folks walking on to that section would be on level ground all the time. No reason your pond has to go up and down anymore like it does now. The angle of the gangway looks very steep in one of those pictures.
It is beautiful and functional just the way it is if this is the way it works best for you.
Just a thought though...
