fender ladder

thinwater said:
This is an ISO requirement for new builds with only two exceptions.
  • Racing dinghies with very low freeboard. Lasers and similar.
  • Boats that will never be operated without someone on-board, on watch. I seriously doubt any cruising boat can meet this requirement (sleeping, fixing dinner, and going to boat at the dock will all violate this.
  • There are pull down ladders that come from the side. And no one said he could not have both.
But it doesn't even matter. It is common sense and there is ALWAYS a way. Sort of like saying you don't need a seat belt and trying to justify your exceptions. You are defending an untenable position.

Yes, this is pet of mine. People have died because they could not reboard easily. I rank this as important as PFDs and lifelines.

Install a ladder.
Click to expand...
Not sure what you think I am "defending", let alone that it is "untenable".
I merely pointed out that many builders fit pull out emergency ladders to meet the new RCD rules on this.
And I dared to disagree with your assertion that “an installed ladder is the right answer” for the OP - who wants to be able to board from a dinghy via the topsides, where a removable / moveable ladder might be a better answer.
You seem to have VERY rigid views and do not like when anybody dares to suggest there may be other alternatives. Whereas I had started with “it depends on intended usage and boat”.
Let’s leave the OP to decide the solotion for his/her need, which is dinghy boarding and perhaps occasional swimming.
 
dunedin said:
As ever, not necessarily - it depends on proposed usage and boat.
Many production boats have inbuilt swimming ladders at the stern, but may not suit the OP if wants to board from side.
And often manufacturers now fit a pull out soft emergency boarding ladder to meet the rules, which would be very ineffective for regular use - eg Osculati Flushmount Emergency Safety Ladder
Click to expand...
We have one of these. Neither of us can climb it. Even using the caving method of one foot one side, one the other, it is impossible to use. I can just about manage it mainly by using arm strength but Jill has never managed to climb it. I wrote to the manufacturers to complain but did not receive a response.
 
vyv_cox said:
We have one of these. Neither of us can climb it. Even using the caving method of one foot one side, one the other, it is impossible to use. I can just about manage it mainly by using arm strength but Jill has never managed to climb it. I wrote to the manufacturers to complain but did not receive a response.
Click to expand...
Yes the pull out emergency ladders are far from easy to climb. But are generally only fitted in addition to a dedicated swim ladder at the stern, particularly where the swim ladder is on a fold out stern platform. The pull out one to satisfy the rule to be able to access from in the water.
But all of this is a thinwater diversion from the OP’s desire for a side boarding ladder for a dinghy :cool:
 
I have also a plastic folding ladder but unfortunately it lost the bottom stand off bar so tends to fold up under the hull when using ..

You can see it here rigged at Priory Bay .... if I could get another - I would as it is neat, handy, folds to one step size etc. it has large Shepherds Crook hooks to put over transom / toe rail etc.

BD3HMA4.jpg


I bought at a Boat Jumble ... so never did really get a brand name
 
Refueler said:
I have also a plastic folding ladder but unfortunately it lost the bottom stand off bar so tends to fold up under the hull when using ..

You can see it here rigged at Priory Bay .... if I could get another - I would as it is neat, handy, folds to one step size etc. it has large Shepherds Crook hooks to put over transom / toe rail etc.

BD3HMA4.jpg


I bought at a Boat Jumble ... so never did really get a brand name
Click to expand...
Seems to me that you would have been better off buying an echo sounder :D :giggle: :D :giggle:
 
RivalRedwing said:
a swimming ladder need to be much deeper, a minimum 3-4 rungs under the water imho
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And very difficult to find them. I took the bottom of a commercial stern ladder and added my own long extension to the top part. Very useful as the boat is twin keel and you don't need a ladder over winter, just scramble up the swim ladder.
 
Refueler said:
I have also a plastic folding ladder but unfortunately it lost the bottom stand off bar so tends to fold up under the hull when using ..

You can see it here rigged at Priory Bay .... if I could get another - I would as it is neat, handy, folds to one step size etc. it has large Shepherds Crook hooks to put over transom / toe rail etc.



I bought at a Boat Jumble ... so never did really get a brand name
Click to expand...

One of these perhaps, from a 24 year old catalogue

1720174500857.png
 
we use the fender step thingy as a swim ladder/MOB. i usually put one rung below the surface (when person is on it!) and tie it on the toe rail, ropes out to the side to help lateral positioning slightly. it does require you to be fairly nimble, however you can go up it with your knees in the holes, if you cannot get a foot that high. this is with a wetsuit or drysuit usually. we have it on the sidedeck with an easy to untie lanyard, so that a passing MOB could use it.

note the comments about fully clothed however, will try that as well.
 
Daydream believer said:
So, being of a folding variety, what stops any part that projects below the curvature of the hull just bending away from the users foot when they try to climb up it?
Click to expand...

Once below hull - of course it will - but the spacers have it a good distance off from hull that your feet are well placed as you climb.

I've used mine of transom .. side ... and bow ....

Of course the Lalizas Alloy + plastic steps is rigid and better ... but only folds flat ...
 
A friend of mine saw a rather plump chap floundering in the water at Bradwell marina. 3 people could not hoist him out. Although very slight the current was tending to pull him under the pontoon. My friend got his Plastisimo plastic folding boarding ladder. When deployed the bottom rungs just floated on the surface & were useless for the casualty who could not possibly get his feet in to it as both hands were being held by those supporting him.
Eventually they found a way of floating him round to the stern of a yacht with a deep rigid ladder & he climbed up that with others pulling from above.
When my friend spoke to Plastisimo they showed no interest whatsoever; saying that the ladder was perfectly useable. My friend fitted a lump of lead pipe to the bottom tread, but was still concerned that it would float away from the user, when they put their foot into the bottom rung.
 
I found an unexpected problem with the fender steps. I wondered what the terrible smell was in the fore cabin, where it was lying on the berth. It was the plasticising agent leaching out.
Not only did it stink out anywhere it was stored it was ****ing useless for climbing aboard anyway.

For boarding from a pontoon we deploy one of these step stools as shown by Refueller and can highly recommend them.
 
For boarding from the pontoon, (which is realise is not the OP's question but thought this may be useful info) we have one of these which is an excellent replacement for 2 useless fender ladders.

Plastimo Pontoon Stainless Steel 2-Step Ladder - 245mm Crook

Always seems to me they can be a fender or a ladder but not both as the thing it needs to fend off is probably what you are standing on.
 
A friend has the pull out type which seems okay as it goes well below the water surface BUT where it folds there a rubber 'buffers' which have disintegrated so it folds under the hull which makes it very difficult to board. It needs to be a solid metal buffer so it won't move or disintegrate when in use. A winter job.
 
vyv_cox said:
Our experience is that fender ladders are pretty poor. They don't do either job very well.
Click to expand...
My experience is the opposite - I like mine a lot.

As a fender it is flat and a little narrower than my round fenders - it is also heavier - so it doesn't roll out/away as the other fenders tend to.

As a ladder it is not as good as a dedicated ladder as the steps are narrow - but enough to give a safe step - particularly for children - and good for boarding the boat from the dinghy.

To answer the original question - I think you want the bottom "step" just a little above the water level
 
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