Transom Boarding ladder
- Thread starter Hanktoo
- Start date
When this comes up the most enthusiastic are owners of a midships ladder.
A stern ladder is OK, but quite hard to use with a dinghy. Pitching is amplified.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?13144-E35-2-boarding-ladder
Here is Ignacio's on his E35-II:
A stern ladder is OK, but quite hard to use with a dinghy. Pitching is amplified.
http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?13144-E35-2-boarding-ladder
Here is Ignacio's on his E35-II:
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I've just been through this exercise. I opted to purchase a side boarding ladder from Mystic Stainless that attaches to the genoa track.
http://mysticstainless.com/foldaway.html
The only issue I have is that the hull curvature of the hull aft has one standoff leg not touching the hull and will require me to fabricate a small extension to it using some PVC pipe.
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Ladder location.
Dear friend, I would suggest considering a mid ship ladder as others here have also suggested. Years ago our little sailing club had a local SoCal boat builder spoke to us about safety at sea and one thing he stressed was to position a boarding ladder at a midship boarding gate. Pitching in any but calm waters simply amplifies the difficulty of getting aboard if the ladder is on the stern. He went on to stress that is also important to make certain that the ladder extend deep enough. All of these are built into the three-fold ladder made by Mystic Stainless, the very place Marilyn and I bought ours as we were passing through town on the way to the airport. It was a great adventure and we were asked to go to lunch somewhere locally for them to attach the teak ladder treads. Ours is in the starboard boarding gate and has served us well for the decade or more we've had it. I too had a problem with the aft stand off not contacting the hull and solved that by extending the one that did by several inches to provide more "toe" room when boarding. I made certain that the added length didn't exceed the ability of the stand off being able to collapse and stow within the width of the ladder, photos attached. I then had the now really short one added to, according to a given measurement and now both contact the hull properly and stow as designed. All this was done locally at a great welding shop. Disembarking into our dinghy is a dream as well as getting back on board including both of our large dogs who quickly learned the "drill". Do consider going that route , I don't think you'll regret it. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA
Dear friend, I would suggest considering a mid ship ladder as others here have also suggested. Years ago our little sailing club had a local SoCal boat builder spoke to us about safety at sea and one thing he stressed was to position a boarding ladder at a midship boarding gate. Pitching in any but calm waters simply amplifies the difficulty of getting aboard if the ladder is on the stern. He went on to stress that is also important to make certain that the ladder extend deep enough. All of these are built into the three-fold ladder made by Mystic Stainless, the very place Marilyn and I bought ours as we were passing through town on the way to the airport. It was a great adventure and we were asked to go to lunch somewhere locally for them to attach the teak ladder treads. Ours is in the starboard boarding gate and has served us well for the decade or more we've had it. I too had a problem with the aft stand off not contacting the hull and solved that by extending the one that did by several inches to provide more "toe" room when boarding. I made certain that the added length didn't exceed the ability of the stand off being able to collapse and stow within the width of the ladder, photos attached. I then had the now really short one added to, according to a given measurement and now both contact the hull properly and stow as designed. All this was done locally at a great welding shop. Disembarking into our dinghy is a dream as well as getting back on board including both of our large dogs who quickly learned the "drill". Do consider going that route , I don't think you'll regret it. Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey CA
Attachments
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Hull #55, Mystic boarding ladder #1.jpg -
Hull #55, Mystic ladder standoff extensions.jpg
Deploying the ladder.
Dear friends, I forgot to mention that I have a length of Velcro wrapped through the ladder and the boarding gate life line and as well, attached to a line that can be easily acceded from the water in the event of needing to board in an emergency. A simple tug of the line will pull the Velcro apart and deploy the latter to its full extent making climbing aboard quite easy given the 70" depth of it when extended. Cheers, Glyn
Dear friends, I forgot to mention that I have a length of Velcro wrapped through the ladder and the boarding gate life line and as well, attached to a line that can be easily acceded from the water in the event of needing to board in an emergency. A simple tug of the line will pull the Velcro apart and deploy the latter to its full extent making climbing aboard quite easy given the 70" depth of it when extended. Cheers, Glyn
markvone
Sustaining Member
Hanktoo,
Not real close to Rock Hall but Kato Marine (katomarine.com) in Annapolis can do quality stainless fabrication work. I would look into the Mystic stainless ladder installed mid ship and utilize a local stainless fab shop to customize it if needed.
I have an old plastic Taylor Made folding ladder that mounts mid ship and can verify the side location works great.
Mark
Not real close to Rock Hall but Kato Marine (katomarine.com) in Annapolis can do quality stainless fabrication work. I would look into the Mystic stainless ladder installed mid ship and utilize a local stainless fab shop to customize it if needed.
I have an old plastic Taylor Made folding ladder that mounts mid ship and can verify the side location works great.
Mark
This might not be a problem with the 35-2, but it turns out that if you mount a ladder in the center of the E29 transom to the proper depth for boarding, it rests on the trailing edge of the rudder when deployed. I've heard of transom-hung rudders with integral boarding steps, but I don't think ours were designed for that...
Somewhere on the web, I copied somebody's photos of a folding mid-ship ladder made entirely from bimini and dodger hardware, through-bolted and epoxied at each joint. It may or may not be a copy of the Mystic ladder but at a fraction of the cost. Ah, this may be it: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2/swimming-ladder-181842.html#post2358406
A bit off-topic: There are a lot of clever ladders out there designed to be climbed in swim fins and heavy dive gear. They are quite stout but mostly sort of ugly. Years ago, some rather un-athletic friends showed me how much easier it is to just leave some lanyards trailing in the water - maybe with a plastic milk crate on one of them. Take off your gear in the water, clip it to the lanyards, and you're free to climb up the ladder un-encumbered.
Somewhere on the web, I copied somebody's photos of a folding mid-ship ladder made entirely from bimini and dodger hardware, through-bolted and epoxied at each joint. It may or may not be a copy of the Mystic ladder but at a fraction of the cost. Ah, this may be it: http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2/swimming-ladder-181842.html#post2358406
A bit off-topic: There are a lot of clever ladders out there designed to be climbed in swim fins and heavy dive gear. They are quite stout but mostly sort of ugly. Years ago, some rather un-athletic friends showed me how much easier it is to just leave some lanyards trailing in the water - maybe with a plastic milk crate on one of them. Take off your gear in the water, clip it to the lanyards, and you're free to climb up the ladder un-encumbered.
I'll "broaden" the discussion a little bit. I have a transom mounted ladder on my E32-3. I wouldn't change it.
It depends on what your intended use is.
I keep my boat on a mooring buoy year-round. On average I row out to it twice a week. The ladder is my only way of boarding the boat. I like approaching from the stern, where I can grab a stern cleat or the ladder itself to pull up to the boat. When lowered, the ladder sits in the bottom of the dinghy, probably 2in below waterline. This greatly stabilizes the dinghy as I'm getting in and out. I can walk down the ladder with one hand on the stern railing, a 40 lb generator in the other hand, then step into a stable dinghy, place the generator on the seat, and then seat myself in the dinghy.
Whether this would work so well from a mid-mounted ladder I don't know. I've never used one, but it looks like the mid-mounted ladder might block access to the normal entry gate while at the dock. Am I wrong?
As for boarding-at-sea during swells, obviously the above comments are correct. A Stern mounted ladder would be very difficult to use in rough seas. The question is how often are you going to have to do that versus other intended uses. Me, hopefully never, but I board from the ladder in smooth seas a hundred+ times a year.
In a real at-sea MOB situation, a ladder might not be the answer at all--especially for an injured or unconscious person.
It depends on what your intended use is.
I keep my boat on a mooring buoy year-round. On average I row out to it twice a week. The ladder is my only way of boarding the boat. I like approaching from the stern, where I can grab a stern cleat or the ladder itself to pull up to the boat. When lowered, the ladder sits in the bottom of the dinghy, probably 2in below waterline. This greatly stabilizes the dinghy as I'm getting in and out. I can walk down the ladder with one hand on the stern railing, a 40 lb generator in the other hand, then step into a stable dinghy, place the generator on the seat, and then seat myself in the dinghy.
Whether this would work so well from a mid-mounted ladder I don't know. I've never used one, but it looks like the mid-mounted ladder might block access to the normal entry gate while at the dock. Am I wrong?
As for boarding-at-sea during swells, obviously the above comments are correct. A Stern mounted ladder would be very difficult to use in rough seas. The question is how often are you going to have to do that versus other intended uses. Me, hopefully never, but I board from the ladder in smooth seas a hundred+ times a year.
In a real at-sea MOB situation, a ladder might not be the answer at all--especially for an injured or unconscious person.
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At least on mine, you slide one of the two mounts on the track to remove the ladder. The two mounts stay on the track, and you then move them anywhere on the track out of the way. Also, I've adopted Glyn's advice about the Velcro deployment from the waterline...a great safety precaution.