Dock it, Anchor it or do I gotta Beach it?

Hello, I am seriously considering purchasing a tandem islander and would like some advice on how to dock it. We own a cottage on a pretty large lake. The cottage has a dock in the front yard. The water is fairly shallow at our dock - 6 inches out to about 4 feet.

I'd like some advice regarding "docking". Would it be better to tie the boat to our dock, or to Moore it in shallow water clear of the dock. Or must I pull the boat out of the water and up onto the lawn every time I use it?

Will the boat suffer wear and tear from being moored/anchored or docked?

Thanks in advance

If I remember correctly I read somewhere that the AI was not designed to be moored in the water. I imagine that Hobie says the same thing about the TI.

I am going on a trip in a month or two and where we'll be staying there is a dock. I thought about tying the boats to the dock and then using an anchor to keep them from banging on the dock. After a lot of thought I decided it would be easier to beach them.

If you think about a boat sitting in the water for long periods of time with even very small waves there is a lot of repetitive motion flexing the many joints in the boat which would cause at least some wear.

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Jerry D.
St. Johns, Florida
2010 TI
2008 AI