Stern Rail Hardware / What Is This?

[JSM]

Does anyone know these are for ?

 

[Nick J]

It's the latch that holds the ladder up. The part you have circled is a stop that keeps it from rotating past 90 when opened.

 

[JSM]

It's the latch that holds the ladder up.

No shit ?

The part you have circled is a stop that keeps it from rotating past 90 when opened.

The part that I have circled has a 90° bend in it and is welded on to the stop that keeps the latch from rotating 360°. It also sticks out into thin air. I have a feeling that its probably meant to be a handle of some sort although in seven years of dropping (and raising) the ladder my fingers have never found their way to it.

Until today !!