Boarding ladders

[captedteach]

My boat has a fairly high freeboard and my boarding ladder fits into some little fittings on either side but you can not sail with the ladder deployed.  I've thought about a stern mounted ladder but that would require me to change the sternrail.

  SOOOooo heres the real deal - one day after a few brewhahas I sailed up to the beach and got the stern of the boat in pretty shallow water. I grabbed my cooler and jumped in heading for the V-ball game on the beach.  About the time my feet left the deck I remembered that the ladder was not where it should be - Oooopsea  Luckily I have a kayak that I usually drag behind the boat so I could ge back in the boat BUT it brought up a question -  WHAT IF??  I sail by myself a good bit  What would happen if I fell off while taking a whiz - could I get my fat ass back on the boat by climbing up the outboard or would I just get drug along until I was too pooped to care

I'm thinking about some sort of ladder that I can deploy from the water - maybe a rope ladder that has a rip cord I can reach

BTW  I almost jumped off one other time with out the ladder when a female crew member decided we should go skinny dipping to cool off a bit - needless to say the mind was a little pre occupied ;)

[hearsejr]

if you could put a hinge on the area where it mounts to the deck/rail, and put a strong peice of string like rope tied to a pin that holds the ladder in place, that can be pulled and allow the ladder to drop in the water when you pull the rope. ( very thin rope mind you.) we had a stern ladder on a sport fisher that was rigged like that.
Bill

[captedteach]

that wont werk Bill - the ladder gets stowed below and when its out it goes right over the jib traveler  There are mounts on either side of the boat so you can place the ladder where you need it

[djn]

Hi CTT, if you go to Catalinadirect.com and look at the ladder for the C25, it bolts to the stern, but folds up and out of the water.  A lot of C25 owners put a broom handle snapin on the stern rail so the botton rung of the ladder snaps into place and is held up when sailing, but also on the bottom rung, they put a peice of line, and from the water, just pull on the line, the ladder pulls out of the snap holder and is in the water.  I just ordered mine.  http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm

[s/v Faith]

I have one of those rope type ladders with teak steps.

 I can stow it on deck and have a pair of velcro straps that I can reach over to release.  

 This kind of ladder is very hard to use, as it rolls under the boat as you are trying to board.  It really just gets you a little bit higher out of the water so you can pull yourself aboard (kinda like standing on a garbage can to climb over a fence.)

 I don't have very high freeboard, so the way I have gotten aboard in the past is to grab one of the jib sheets, and tie a bowline in one end, while cleating off the other.  This works as long as the headsail is not furled, as the jib sheets are tight to the blocks when it is.

 Any piece of line could be used like this though, as long as you can reach the deck edge to grab it.  
 

[djn]

Here is the link to the ladder at Catalinadirect.  Cheers.

http://www.catalinadirect.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=623

[hearsejr]

that wont werk Bill -

sorry I was thinking it was like a fold up type mounting. I have seen a few doubled enders with ladders mounted on the side nearer to the stern.   sorry, my mistake ;D

[captedteach]

I'm thinking that this will be an emergency only thing - Whats on the boat now is nice and I have a good place to stow the ladder when not in use - so the rope ladder may be the trick   BTW Faith if you climb up a rope ladder from one edge with one foot one the front and one on the rear using the rope as a handle it stays straight - I learned this climbing up to tree houses   Dont know if it werks with a boat in the way ;)

[seanshine]

Teach.  Worst Marine has a stainless ladder that is a bit smaller for around $100.  This is what I use on my Cat30.  When it's folded up, it doesn't extend above the transom.  It is very easy to pull down if you are in the water.  If you only use it once to save your life, it is well worth the money.  Be careful of those distractions, they could be fatal, heh heh  Sean

[Jack Tar]

Use a sturn ladder stowed with a fold up system. The clip that holds the lader up can either be the spring clip type or it can have a pin that is released by pulling a hanging lanyard.

[CapnK]

I think I have seen a telescoping-tube type ladder, where the steps poke out sideways from the tube sections. It wouldn't take up too much stern real estate, and could be pulled down from below and in the water.

[Amorous]

So far I've been able to scramble aboard every time I've forgotten to put the ladder down before jumping overboard (yeah, yeah, I know).  But I've been considering putting some of those folding steps up the transom.  ( I think somehow this ties in with Solace's new year resolution idea)  ;D

[s/v Faith]

......  BTW Faith if you climb up a rope ladder from one edge with one foot one the front and one on the rear using the rope as a handle it stays straight - I learned this climbing up to tree houses   Dont know if it werks with a boat in the way ;)

  I'll give that a try, thanks.  Funny story (for another thread....) It's REALLY tough when your 1st mate is motor sailing the boat away from you at about 6 knots!!!  ;D >:( ;D :o ::) ;D

[starcrest]

necessity is the mother of invention.I had a side mounted tip down boarding ladder on starcrest 2 .with a little ingenuity I was able to install a piece of wood onto it and when tipped down it served as an out board mount.of course the outboard would be spun 90 degrees to face foward .in a pinch it worked .

[AdriftAtSea]

There are several ways to do this using lines, that aren't too intrusive and can be triggered by a line hanging over the side of the boat.  I think having a easy way to get back on board is a good idea for anyone sailing short-handed. 

The easiest are the boats with a swim platform of some sort, as most have a boarding ladder that is reachable from the water. That's the situation I have, so I really don't need to rig anything.  On trimarans, the amas are often accessible from the water as well... but the monohulls, with greater freeboard, definitely need a way to get back on.