Mods to be made - Stern Rail Swim Ladder Access

[Macboy]

Hello all, excited to get active in this community here but I've got to start with the questions. I'll keep the topics separated in case it helps others or makes it easier for quick answers.

We're hoping to find a bolt-on solution to cutting out the stern rail to make the ladder access easier (of course then we'll fill the gap with pelican hooked lifelines. I was perusing Chris' (Holdech) mods page and noted some Perko blocks he mentioned which took me over to boatstore.com which teased me with all sorts of tees and elbows and base fittings and got me thinking maybe there's a cut and bolt sort of solution here somewhere. Any words of caution or advice?

We've seen Sumner's amazing work on his swim ladder/platform but I think we lack the fabrication / welding skills required and will accept the perpetual envy.

 

[Capt jgw]

PO did that on my 69 Columbia 36. They cut the center out of the rail and added a stantion and tee fitting at each end of the cut. The center legs of the tees hold rings to attach the lifeline wire. Probably not as strong as the original, but since I never saw the original that doesn't bother me.

 

[willsnow]

The admiral and I love this one:

 

[Macboy]

That's great! A platform would be super handy with the little ones. What are the do's and don'ts when mounting something like that? How to you ensure the water stays on the correct side of the hull? Is it rocket science or pretty simple steps with pretty common materials (sealants etc)?

 

[vizwhiz]

I also want to do that (eventually) willsnow! Did you pick up a salvage one, or buy a new one?

 

[Kestle]

The admiral and I love this one:

I would really appreciate knowing how many inches there is between the top of the waterline (when loaded) and the bottom of the starboard for your ladder.

Jeff

 

[willsnow]

I also want to do that (eventually) willsnow! Did you pick up a salvage one, or buy a new one?

Nope. Got that new for about $200 with shipping. Really - all the difference for kids and ladies to pee. It also gets used to sit on and rinse dishes before bringing them in to wash... And of course getting in and out of the boat. Its made by Garelick. Here it is from one company:
http://www.wholesalemarine.com/gare...3YO99AwDm5tgLuUxUBbI-1XIU92W3_ZgDnhoCpErw_wcB
But there are several styles of it out there if you do a google search for Garelick swim platform. This one had the lowest platform vs holes needed in the transom.

 

[willsnow]

I would really appreciate knowing how many inches there is between the top of the waterline (when loaded) and the bottom of the starboard for your ladder.

Jeff

It looks to be about 5" above the painted water line.... I don't have a picture of it in the water. The top ladder rung is only an inch or so in the water when ladder is deployed.

 

[vizwhiz]

Thanks!

 

[topcat0399]

We have that same swim platform but have mounted it a little higher and strap our 6 gallon gas tank on it. We have not attached the ladder but may someday if we want to use it for swimming...

 

[Macboy]

Dad was being "funny" the other day with a fishing boat seat but it gives me the pic I need for my question. With the above mentioned swim platform can anyone fathom the best way to combine the existing ladder? What I'd rather not happen is that we unscrew the existing ladder leaving three holes at each attachment point and drill four new holes to secure the platform (regardless of which ladder we then use - the original or a new one that comes with the new platform).

I'm starting to think that we'd be perhaps making better use of head-scratching & modification time by building some sort of "hook-on" wooden solution that could cleverly double as something else on-board like a cockpit table or part of a cockpit cover panel like sumner's 'deck' or a badminton racket.....

Of course a hook-on option would render the lower section of the ladder useless so we'd need to hang a rope or another section of ladder off the front of the hooked on bit.

Am I trudging down roads travelled already by others? Or would that be sailing down channels already sailed......

 

[Macboy]

 

[topcat0399]

View attachment 87556

LOL - sweet prototype.

The swim platform that was picture earlier in this thread can come with many different types of ladders. Ours came with a single step fold down. Eventually we will probably get a 3-4 step telescoping type to attache to the bottom of the platform. The deeper the better.

One thing I do know from our experiments - rope ladders on a sail boat are worse than useless, especially if there is any kind of wave action going on.
When you step on that bottom rung it needs to be rigid so that you actually have a chance to get up the thing.

ymmv

 

[willsnow]

the first issue I would see about trying to put on a platform but keep the existing ladder is that you would have to be pretty upper-body strong to get around the platform. on my platform, you see the ladder hangs off the far back of the bottom - nearest a swimmer trying to get up. if the ladder were at the back - on the transom, a swimmer's feet would be way back there and they would need to do some sort of swing move or something to get up onto the platform.
my boat came with an awful, 1 rung swing-down ladder. i often had to help people into the boat and they were always grabbing at whatever was in front of them to help pull them up. (usually my tiller or the backstay adjustment). the platform i got has a total of 4 holes to drill in the transom, and i filled the old ones (way more than 4) with epoxy putty

for what it's worth - if that picture is your boat, those transom ladders are pretty cool/useful... i probably wouldn't have changed mine if it were that style

 

[willsnow]

maybe you could rig up a support like Sumner to hold the ladder out in a platform function:
http://purplesagetradingpost.com/sumner/macgregor/outside-17.html

 

[Macboy]

I LOVE what Sumner did (I love ALL of the mods they made) but if I convert the ladder into a platform then I still need a ladder to get onto the ladder now being used as a platform.

Granted, it DOES seem like it's one step less than the previous thinking....

 

[Kestle]

When I grow up, I want to have all the cool tools/toys that Sum has! I hear he even has a plasma cutter in his tool shed...

Jeff

 

[Snowbird One]

the first issue I would see about trying to put on a platform but keep the existing ladder is that you would have to be pretty upper-body strong to get around the platform. on my platform, you see the ladder hangs off the far back of the bottom - nearest a swimmer trying to get up. if the ladder were at the back - on the transom, a swimmer's feet would be way back there and they would need to do some sort of swing move or something to get up onto the platform.
my boat came with an awful, 1 rung swing-down ladder. i often had to help people into the boat and they were always grabbing at whatever was in front of them to help pull them up. (usually my tiller or the backstay adjustment).

Yep, I have the platform with one rung that flips up/down into the water. Not nearly deep enough. I'm kind of middle of the road when it comes to body strength - that is, I can lift myself out of a pool of water, but that one rung is WAY too high. I tried a rope rung as an extension, and that didn't work - like you say, it ends up going underneath, and you have to get past the platform. Tried using my fender as a rung (tied with rope, and it's pretty comical watching a person trying to step on a fender floating on the surface, and sinking it under the water. Definite fail!

Now I'm looking at this; I think it'll be a perfect solution: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/garelick-over-platform-telescoping-ladder-84432.html