Can You Deploy your swim ladder from the water ?

[Simon Sexton]

I don't even have a swim ladder I simply tie a double bowline onto a winch, throw it over the side and tell my friends to hang on for dear life!

 

[genec]

Yup, mine is easily reachable and with a bit of effort, I can fold it down...

But I went one better, and tied a line to a couple of rungs to make them even easier to grab.

I think I could also climb aboard by hauling myself up on the bowsprit and the stays associated with it.

What is surprisingly difficult is getting back into the inflatable dingy. Yeah, I can do it... but only with great effort... it turned out to be a lousy dive platform. I think a bit of a rope ladder might help.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Funny no one has mentioned a tether. I wear one when single hand.

 

[NotCook]

Ours are built into the sides of the boat. 2 ladder rungs below the waterline, then 4 foot/handholds into the topsides.

We overheard a series of radio calls with the USCG a few years back, first about a boat found adrift, later with another boater who came across a “swimmer”, out in Lake Erie. The boater had the “swimmer” (the guy who belonged to the adrift boat) at his boat, but couldn’t get the guy into his boat. The guy was too heavy, cold and weak, for the boater to get him out of the water. The guy died before anyone arrived to help.