Floating docks rise and fall with the tide so that the level of your boat is always relatively the same to the pier. If you require a step or two to board at low tide, you will still only require that same step or two to board at high tide. When tides only fluctuate a foot or so that doesn't mean much but when they fluctuate 3 or 4 feet it can mean the difference of needing a ladder to get on or off your boat. When the north winds arrive and the water blows out of Clear Lake and Galveston Bay, you can really appreciate the difference. This condition occurs frequently during fall, winter and spring.

If you're on fixed piers it also means someone has to continually adjust your mooring lines during tide fluctuations or you'll be pulling out cleats at low tides when you're hanging in your slip or banging into pilings at higher tides when your boat is floating loose on longer lines. When the tides are unusually high and your piers are covered with water and you have to wade to your boat the problem is more obvious. Floating docks are considerably more expensive to engineer and install but resolve a lot of problems for the boater.

Four foot wide finger piers accommodate easier and safer boarding. No tight-rope walking on skinny, unstable finger piers which can be a very unsettling experience if the water is six feet down.
 

Our slips average 10 ft in depth. Even during the north winter winds we never have boats sitting on bottom and we've had some pretty extreme low tides. Our tenants can go sailing year around and do. Consequently, we probably have the highest percentage of active sailors on the lake. There's nothing wrong with sitting around in your slip, if that's what you like to do, but if you want to go sailing, then you want to be able to.