Swim Ladder for Older Boats

[Dan B]

What do people with older boats use for swim ladders? I have a 1973 Catalina 27 that has an old, short swim ladder that my family complains about using (it doesn't sit down far enough in the water and then they have to climb up over the stern rails to get in the cockpit).Would this be possible: to mount a small teak (or better yet plastic) swim platform with ladder to port of the outboard (sits in a transom cutout in the center) and have a swim ladder for than and then a few steps to get back in the cockpit? Would it look stupid? If so waht have other people used for ladders (gunwhate mounted, transom mounted, etc)Thanx,Dan

 

[Steve G]

That Home-Made Look

I can't quite picture what you're thinking of doing, but let me say this; In my humble opinion, things look stupid only when they look like they were improperly planned or serve no useful purpose. In other words, If it's well thought out and functional (if it looks like it's supposed to be there) it won't look stupid. However, if you don't plan it right, you might look pretty stupid slung over your transom calling for help. Plan it well and make it to your plans.Good Luck!

 

[John Dawson]

boarding ladder

Ladders must extend down into the water to get your foot into, so they are usually folding or hinged to make this possible. Here's a picture of a ladder sharing the transom with a centered outboard; the ladder is hinged to store up against the lifelines. A small platform would have to avoid interferring with the motor and is pretty unusual, but like Steve says, it depends on whether you can make it work. Perhaps a hinged platform, or one thats removable?

 

[Don K.]

Gunwale Ladder

No climbing over the stern rail for me. I bought a long stainless folding ladder from West marine. Six steps take you down deep into the water. It folds from 65" down to 38" for easy storage and supports 340 lbs. I put it on the side deck where my lifeline gate opens. I bought extra brackets and mounted them on my dock.

 

[Peter J. Brennan]

Foldinfg demountable ladder

I don't even remember the name of it now. But our ladder bought for our first boat was (is) a really solid folding aluminum thingy with five wide steps going well below the water. It folds accordian like. We mounted brackets at the gunwale and have detent push pins for mounting. Our present boat has a fully adequate stern ladder but there are times when it is better to enter the water or board from the side and the ladder gets used fairly often. Just spritze it with WD40 from time to time.

 

[Tim McCarty]

I just saw my old boat (make), and low and behold

it had one of those marine aftermarket swim teak- and -rail swim platforms on the transom. Looked pretty good. Worth a look...