swim ladder

[adla]

i threw a swim ladder on Morgaine - i was at first concerned about the transom not being flat/straight but it looks and behaves ok out of the water:

hardly a beautiful picture...but it is what it is. i reinforced behind the transom with 3"x3/4 stock and used stainless flat head screw/bolts to fasten it down. For me it is all about function - form is for the next boat, eh....

i hope to be in the water again soon. i bought a 5hp johnson on ebay to give me more range at lake mead - i want to be able to go out and explore.

a.

[Mark Gudschinsky]

Adla,

I like your ladder. Does it interfere with the rudder at all?

Where did you get it? Brand model number etc?

I ordered one for my Weekender last year, and it's too big.

I want something like yours for the fun of it, but mainly for safety. Getting in these boats while in any water over five feet deep is difficult at best (I have personally tested it out.)

I have a rope style ladder, but it usually is under a seat, so is of no help if you find yourself in the water with out someone aboard to help.

A side note for fellow Weekender owners, (or for any boat) here is a very important test to do with your boat. (Kinda like a fire drill.)

1-On a calm day, take your boat out with a big strong crewman and/or with a portable boarding ladder.

2-Find water about five or six feet deep.

3-Jump overboard.

4-Try getting back in with out help or the boarding ladder.

5-After your crewman helps you get in the boat, imagine that the water is cold, or that the seas are rough, or that there was no help. Scarry! :shock:

[kydocfrog]

I have sunk a rather substantial eye bolt into the keel right where the bulkhead hits the cabin floor. Before I do any serious single handed sailing in bigger waters, that's where the safety harness line will attach. I had a harness for years on my previous boat; I just have to re-rig something as far as my jacket, etc. That doesn't get you back into the boat, but it does cut down on loosing the boat. They don't necessarily stand still when you fall out.

DocA

[Barry Pyeatt]

Here is an alternative that can help and it is unobtrusive. Mount to the bottom outside corners of your transom and you can step up to get back into the boat. It works! It can also help to "muscle" your boat around while on the trailer.

http://www.duckworksbbs.com/hardware/misc/step/index.htm

This is a folding ladder that I've seen used quite a bit. It is also pretty slick as it is small and compact but strong enough to help any of us to get back into the boat.

http://www.bartswatersports.com/catalog.asp?C=167&category=Boat+Ladders+and+Swim+Platforms&P=9830&product=Folding+Transom+Boat+Ladder

[kydocfrog]

I actually have one of these step on my aft dec mounted as a grab handle; I do not have a taffrail and am planning to mount one low on transom or on keel as a step. They are bullet proof.

Certainly doesn't meet need for recreational swimming ease, but sure might help in making desperate scramble over stern.

DocA

[adla]

Barry -

the folding ladder you suggest is the one i used...in the picture it is down- but it folds up and really isn't all that obtrusive. i thought about the steps and went with the ladder instead. The one i bought was the folding two step ladder...i also reinforced behind the transom where it is mounted with 3/4" stock.

Mark -

no, it doesn't interfere with the rudder - i mounted it with the rudder on and made sure it didn't get in the way. It is the same ladder as the link that Barry provided but I bought mine at bass pro-shops. It was $45 or something like that. it will make getting back in the boat easy - not just for safety etc..but for swimming. I agree that getting back in the boat isn't so easy without some help.

DocFrog - the eyebolt is an interesting idea...i haven't worked out a safety harness thing yet...my next project is getting a motor mount for the 5hp johnson that i bought for my weekender. Lake Mead is too big and hostile for just the electric jib...

a.

[adla]

here it is - maybe it was $54 ...

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=803&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

i go to the OUTDOOR WORLD shop here...and spend all my monies.....

a.

[JeffM]

I've given this some thought as an important safety issue in the case of falling overboard or capsizing. I have a strong handle bolted to my aft deck, and I have both the boarding step and rope boarding ladder from Duckworks. I find the step (which I have mounted about as low on the transom as I can get it) is too high up for me to get a foot on. The rope ladder, on the other hand, simply goes under the hull when I put a foot on it. While anchored during my recent cruise, I had to go aboard at high tide to prepare for a possible storm. The water--once knee-deep-- had become chest deep. I managed to get a knee on the boarding step, then sort of flexed myself gradually onto the aft deck--an ordeal that left the fronts of my thighs a mass of bruises. I'm now looking into something like this, http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/06/columns/rob/index5.htm, but I know it would uglify my transom something terrible. Certainly some kind of low and rigid ladder or step is the only way for me to go.

[adla]

Jeff -

i don't think the ladder uglifies the transom - you have a couple of beautiful kids and a ladder would provide an extra measure of safety that would be worth the risk of uglifying the transom. I get a kick out of your posts and the pics of your boys!

I think the duckworks ladder in the link is a very clever idea.

a.

[Barry Pyeatt]

Hard to argue that adding things to the outside of the hull doesn't "uglyfy" a bit. But, I'm in the school that recognizes that when you don't work out a recovery plan and provide for it to work (all the time), that you will be one of the ones that does need it and don't have it. Now that is ugly!

I'm also in agreement, that all of us need to bail out of our boats when we have others around that can be of assistance if we can't manage to recover on our own. So we know what we can and can't expect of ourselves. That is why there are recovery drills and life saving drills. We all hope we don't need to use those skills but if we don't have them we can be in big trouble when it couldn't be a worse time for it to happen.

I had my kids learning how to swing around and react if someone went overboard when they were just small like Jeff's kids. They haven't needed it but I see them teaching those same things to others so I know that they stuck. It is just being prepared.

Sorry Adla, wasn't trying to take anything away. I just had a link to that ladder and have seen it used on so many boats with great success. Looked like the one you used but often just the step/handle will make a huge difference as opposed to nothing to hang onto that you can reach or that someone else in the water can reach while you are near panic.

[Greg Luckett]

Adla' date='

I like your ladder. Does it interfere with the rudder at all?

Where did you get it? Brand model number etc?

I ordered one for my Weekender last year, and it's too big.

......[/quote']

Mark,

I am looking for a ladder for my Laguna 24. Maybe that ladder you have would work?

Greg.

[Greg Luckett]

here it is - maybe it was $54 ...

http://www.basspro.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=803&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

i go to the OUTDOOR WORLD shop here...and spend all my monies.....

a.

I wonder how the aluminum ladders compare to the SS ladders for handling the weight of a boarder? I am heavy. There aren't any data given for weights, like a ladder has on its label.

[adla]

Barry - i didn't think you were taking anything away....

i chose the swim ladder i did after trying a rope ladder and finding it unacceptable...not to mention unaccessable if i had fallen off the boat. This little folding swim ladder is pretty sturdy. Greg, I don't know what the weight rating is....that is a good question. All the springs and hardware on mine are ss but the rest is aluminum....out of the water it is really steady and strong but i don't weigh a whole lot.

i plan some less functional and more aesthetic changes soon....

one of the things i need to deal with is mounting the new outboard - but i am going to wait until it arrives before i commit to a mounting method.

a.

[adla]

i have been watching the ebay stuff to see if there is an acceptable motor mount but what i found was that a lot of knock offs are sold there and alumnium goes for the same price as the ss...so, i took a look at Bass Proshops and found the right sized motor mount...and realized that i had 50 dollars in reward points (i don't even want to know what that means in relation to what I spend there :roll: ) and so, buying a motor mount for my new outboard that arrives wednesday was easy peasy and half price. I fixed my nasty keel problem mostly and will get that finished in the next day or so...but I have plans to be on the water sunday morning....ganna go fishing, swimming, sailing and all the fun stuff. I can't wait. I also epoxied an eyebolt in the keel instead of the silly hole per the plans. If I get really ambitious this week, I will mount some 2x6s on the sides of the rollers giving the keel a guide for easier retrieval.....and if i am feeling super crazy i will weld some d-rings on the trailer for a better tiedown system.

a.