Bow steps?

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KevinV

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Anybody got any photos of neat bow steps? I'm bow in to the pontoon, and although I can manage the step from pontoon to bow myself shorter legged companions struggle to do so elegantly.

A single step would do it, but it does have to be stable, and fold flat for storage
 
My bow step looks very like a Rocna anchor.

Because it is a Rocna anchor. If tightly attached it does provide a good single step on the bow, particularly with the spinnaker halyard tensioned beside it as a hand hold. (CQR, Delta etc are hopeless as steps and get in the way)

For lower pontoons, we sometimes add a £15 folding step placed on the pontoon.

Custom s/s add on steps are also available at a differnt price point.
 
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Most boats sorted for Baltic use have step though pulpits ... and many like mine have a detachable stainless steel 'ladder' that clips on and with a steady bar that sits pressing on the bow lower down ...
Not cheap !!

Problem with most boats is that any ladder / step needs steadying because of the bow angle. You step on and it moves into the bow ...

As Dunedin ... I have a cheap folding step .... that helps ... but with Baltic moor - its fine to get onto the boat - but not advised for getting off - where its usual to make the short 'jump'
 
Refueler said:
... and many like mine have a detachable stainless steel 'ladder' that clips on and with a steady bar that sits pressing on the bow lower down ...
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Have you got a photo of that? I can imagine an attachment on the bow roller at the top and a support to the hull at the bottom, but I can't quite envisage left/right stability
 
We specialise in going unprepared into the most unsuitable places. Although we have a split pulpit, including a teak step which was an extra, we never really got around to getting the best answer for bow access. We can actually use the bar of the CQR as one step on the way down, which is often adequate, but generally we have put a step on the pontoon. Originally, we used the boat's rubber bucket but that got a bit squidgy in time and we bought cheap plastic folding steps. Our freeboard is not large by today's standards and this was enough for us. As I see it, you either get some folding steps of a suitable size, or you get a proper s/s ladder that fits the prow and is secure, but a lot depends on the actual boat.
 
I learned to back in. I had slightly disabled crew and asking them to step across the bow was not safe. Also very difficult to load supplies, so there are good reasons to dock in an accessible manner.

Trickier, for certain, but at least departing is dead simple. You just head out, regardless of crosswinds and most tides.
 
thinwater said:
I learned to back in. I had slightly disabled crew and asking them to step across the bow was not safe. Also very difficult to load supplies, so there are good reasons to dock in an accessible manner.

Trickier, for certain, but at least departing is dead simple. You just head out, regardless of crosswinds and most tides.
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I can see the point of backing in in some instances, such as a friend’s large Island Packet with a lot of freeboard and not very agile occupants, but I don’t think it is generally a good option. With my boat at least, leaving forwards is far harder. It may seem more instinctive for the less experienced but my turning circle is quite large because of limited rudder movement and saildrive, and backing out is much safer. A cross wind would be a nightmare when going ahead.

As for the Baltic, the box moorings there are mostly to pontoons that are approximately deck height, making leaving over the bow easy for most people, without a ladder.
 
Some places on the canals here you have to moor bow in as it is so shallow the devils whisks at the back would be making mud pies.
Our boat does have a low step-over pulpit at the bow but so far not needed to use it.

Where we will be going on Tuesday night, Bocholt, most folk moor bow in because it is easier with the eddy current that flows along the haven wall, I back in as it is easier to get on and off the boat through the stern gate, the finger pontoons are VERY narrow and I won't let the grand kids off the boat without their lifejackets, I don't think the pontoon is even 1/2m wide.

Monday lunchtime we will be bow in on the finger pontoons at Neerpelt as it is too shallow to come stern in, we will only be there to pick up the kids and then off on our travels.
 
johnalison said:
As for the Baltic, the box moorings there are mostly to pontoons that are approximately deck height, making leaving over the bow easy for most people, without a ladder.
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mmmm depends if shore fixed or floating ...

Majority of floating pontoons are Marintec ... same as you get in UK and many other countries .... they are near all lower level than the deck.

But shore fixed - where they do not float and water is deep enough to allow it - the pontoons can be ... note CAN be higher level.

As an avid Baltic cruiser .. I can say this with hand on heart.

Bow or stern to in Baltic moorings makes little difference really - as you use the buoy to pull yourself out of the mooring ... once bow or stern falls clear of other boats and you can easily unhook from the buoy - its turn and go.
But going astern into such can be a nightmare ... and will have most other boat owners who are next to you throwing out additional fenders !! It also makes it harder for the single or two up crewed boat ... fine if 3 or more.
 
Refueler said:
mmmm depends if shore fixed or floating ...

Majority of floating pontoons are Marintec ... same as you get in UK and many other countries .... they are near all lower level than the deck.

But shore fixed - where they do not float and water is deep enough to allow it - the pontoons can be ... note CAN be higher level.

As an avid Baltic cruiser .. I can say this with hand on heart.

Bow or stern to in Baltic moorings makes little difference really - as you use the buoy to pull yourself out of the mooring ... once bow or stern falls clear of other boats and you can easily unhook from the buoy - its turn and go.
But going astern into such can be a nightmare ... and will have most other boat owners who are next to you throwing out additional fenders !! It also makes it harder for the single or two up crewed boat ... fine if 3 or more.
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I think that your part of the Baltic must be very different to where we went, which was mostly the southern Baltic and up the west coast of Sweden. I would imagine that this area has been extensively cruised for much longer that the east, other than Finland and the infrastructure mostly dates back to maybe the 1960s, when box moorings were the norm.

When we first visited East Germany and Poland in the early 2000s the only choices were decrepit old jetties that had been made available to yachts or the occasional new marina such as at Kroslin and Leba. Since then a lot of EU money has been spent of development and most of the new moorings are the sort of fingers we are used to. Given the choice I much prefer boxes.
 
johnalison said:
I think that your part of the Baltic must be very different to where we went, which was mostly the southern Baltic and up the west coast of Sweden. I would imagine that this area has been extensively cruised for much longer that the east, other than Finland and the infrastructure mostly dates back to maybe the 1960s, when box moorings were the norm.

When we first visited East Germany and Poland in the early 2000s the only choices were decrepit old jetties that had been made available to yachts or the occasional new marina such as at Kroslin and Leba. Since then a lot of EU money has been spent of development and most of the new moorings are the sort of fingers we are used to. Given the choice I much prefer boxes.
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Typical Swedish Marina (Baltic)

Sibe9rZl.jpg


Ventspils fixed pontoons (not floating) ... typical of Baltic where used : (same basic photo as before - but water level has dropped)

PupDm9Jl.jpg


Ventspils floating pontoons ... typical of Baltic where used :

nPagKqzl.jpg


Both fixed and floating are Marintec - one of the biggest producers / suppliers of pontoons / mooring systems in Europe and UK ...
 
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