Length of Passerelle in the Med

[mark1882]

We are currently preparing our boat Arrifana a Westerly Oceanlord for taking her to the Med in May and have started to look at amongst loads of other things methods to get ashore when moored stern to and bows to.

Most people seem to have a passerelle and I planning to make one of these out of an aluminium ladder I haver but I am not sure how long it needs to be so any advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

Also are there occasions when you have to moor bows to without access to an along side pontoon and if so any an suggestions/ideas as to hoe you do this would also be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks

Mark

 

[PlanB]

Once in the Med you are very unlikely to find an alongside mooring. Whether you moor bows or stern to is a matter of personal choice in many places, and there are various methods deployed - search on here for detailed threads.
Have the longest passerelle you can, to cater for time when you can't moor too close to the wall/pontoon, or when you need to leave space for surges.

 

[concentrik]

We've found our motorcycle ramp passerelle works fine... it folds in half, is light and strong. We have the outboard end on two bungees to lift it off the quay by about a foot so it doesn't scrape. Setting foot on the boat end depresses the other end so you can walk across easily. You may want to replace the steel nuts and bolts as delivered with s/s ones, otherwise it works right out of the box. You'll see this arrangement all over the place!

 

[vyv_cox]

It's going to depend on your boat and where you can attach it. I added a stern platform to the transom, with the swivel as far aft as it would reasonably go. My passarelle is 2 metres long, also a ladder, one piece without a hinge. This is just about as long as I can comfortably manoeuvre from the stanchions where it is normally stowed.

We initially berthed bows-to when we reached the Med, as ours is not the easiest boat to reverse. However, the hassle and problems of climbing over the pulpit every time convinced us to convert to stern-to. This was when I added the platform. Although reversing in occasionally causes us some problems, overall it is far more convenient to go this way.

 

[Tranona]

The common length is 2m. You can make your own as suggested but we bought one, folding aluminium with teak treds. Available from Force 4 at about £500 and to my mind (and my wifes!) well worth it.

 

[macd]

The common length is 2m.

I'd say that's about right as a rule of thumb. Obviously for any particular boat much depends on the stern profile: some sugar scoops can add over a metre to the length needed. Perhaps the salient figure is how far off the quay the extreme stern needs to be whilst still putting the end of the passarelle comfortably on the quay: rather more than a metre, perhaps, if allowing for surge? We have a modest sugar scoop/bathing platform and a (folding) passarelle of 2.4m.

 

[Carmel2]

The common length is 2m. You can make your own as suggested but we bought one, folding aluminium with teak treds. Available from Force 4 at about £500 and to my mind (and my wifes!) well worth it.

+1. In 12 years of doing this I have fallen in twice, both times off home made jobs, each time I was sober so maybe that's the problem. We have a large 2.5 meter job, it folds into 3, plus a ladder that fits to the anchor for the occasional bows to both made to measure in Turkey.

 

[charles_reed]

2.4 m - made from a boarded-in ladder - never fallen off that, but have when getting into the dinghy off a quay.
Not a pleasant experience as I found it impossible to get back in and had to swim to the nearest ladder 400m away - not easy fully clothed.

 

[Wino]

I agree with vyv cox about the problems of climbing over the bow etc. BUT there are some stern to moorings which are just not deep enough for my props. and so I have to moor bow forward.
Also bows on gives far more privacy, particularly when moored against busy pavements when it is too easy to become a 'tourist attraction' with everybody passing taking a great interest in what you are doing/eating/drinking etc. on the back deck.
I have had our pulpit made to include a section that can be unbolted and hinged back and also that a short ladder can be hung from the bows to give easy access to a quay.
Wino.

 

[Garry & June 'Friendship']

+1

We've found our motorcycle ramp passerelle works fine... it folds in half, is light and strong. We have the outboard end on two bungees to lift it off the quay by about a foot so it doesn't scrape. Setting foot on the boat end depresses the other end so you can walk across easily. You may want to replace the steel nuts and bolts as delivered with s/s ones, otherwise it works right out of the box. You'll see this arrangement all over the place!

we also have gone the motorcycle ramp route...2.1m long,folds in half for storage, lightweight yet strong, wide enough to securely walk across. And dirt cheap on fleabay especially when compared to grossly overpriced 'marine'versions. have bolted a couple of small heavy duty wheels to the harbour side and a couple of attachments to hang on topping lift/ halyard. Even if it gets nicked its cheap enough to not give you sleepless nights.

 

[Cardo]

Ours is home made, though the same (wood sourced from the same place) as the planks fitted to most of the Sailing Holidays fleet. It's 2m long and is about right for us. As mentioned, around 2m seems to be pretty standard. I certainly wouldn't go any shorter.

 

[catmandoo]

I am fed up with my paserelle and heavy plank both take up space and SWMBO can't walk along either , gets giddy and screams .

So I am currently looking at the Tarzan option . some kind of boom attached to the mast like a crane and on a swivel with a knotted rope dangling down from far end .
Operating procedure is climb up on cabin roof , grab rope and swing onto pier yelling OoH Ahhh Oglel , Yodel Oooh ahshit
letting go at the appropriate point . Both of us are in our 70's and nee the excercise; and the aim is to strenghthen the leg and arm muscles and vocal cords as well as having some thing to hold onto until the last moment

Am currently training SWMB to do it at all angles in peace and solitude of the tentsmuir country park striking fear into all the seals , deer and rabbits at the time

 

[colind3782]

My Furia 332 was designed for Med berthing with a step through pulpit and fold down steps.

 

[MBullock]

On a similar note. Does anyone have their dinghy on davits? If so what do you do there? Easiest option seems to be to run the dinghy around to the front but is that acceptable in med type situations or does it need hauling up on to the foredeck? Just wondering... Thanks. Malc

 

[Tranona]

On a similar note. Does anyone have their dinghy on davits? If so what do you do there? Easiest option seems to be to run the dinghy around to the front but is that acceptable in med type situations or does it need hauling up on to the foredeck? Just wondering... Thanks. Malc

If you do that you will incur the wrath of Vonasi who used to post here and consided it a cardinal sin! However there isn't an ideal way of dealing with the issue. You don't want your dinghy either on davits or attached to the stern while mooring stern to, nor on the foredeck as it interferes with anchor handling, so common to attch it to the bow cleat and let it find its own way until you are moored, then either lift onto deck or secure alongside if room.

 

[duncan99210]

Passerelle: 2.4 metre plank with castor wheels on the shore end and a rope on the boat end, made fast to cleats on the stern. A rope from the shore end to a carabiner on the backstay, adjusted for the height of the quayside provides a handrail and stop the thing walking off by itself. A light line to a convenient cleat or ring ashore to stop it wandering off to the side. We did have a folding affair, inherited from Carmel2, which turned out to be too short, hence the plank.

Dinghy: for short hops we tow ours and for longer ones, it hoisted up flat across the stern. For stern to mooring, we simply move it to the bow where it's secured with short painter under the anchor chain/lazy line so as not to obstruct others or knock on their hull. Remember to move it before taking in the anchor or dropping the lazy line......

 

[vyv_cox]

I agree with vyv cox about the problems of climbing over the bow etc. BUT there are some stern to moorings which are just not deep enough for my props. and so I have to moor bow forward.

Since Jill fell and damaged herself quite badly when climbing over the pulpit, which on our boat extends a long way out from the bow of the boat, we never berth bows to. In places where there is a lot of ballast at the base of the wall, preventing us from going close in, we use the dinghy as a 'half-way stage'.

 

[Cardo]

On a similar note. Does anyone have their dinghy on davits? If so what do you do there? Easiest option seems to be to run the dinghy around to the front but is that acceptable in med type situations or does it need hauling up on to the foredeck? Just wondering... Thanks. Malc

Most people just tie their dinghies to the bow and let them float about. It's perfectly acceptable, even if you do get the odd griefer who feels it's bad form. Just make sure you move the dinghy out of the way if it's blocking the berth next to you when someone wants to get in. Some people tie their dinghies amidships, purposely blocking berths next to them. Now that is bad form, and I wouldn't hesitate to aim for the gap. Dinghies make good fenders!

If the quay is smooth, we drop the dinghy down a bit off the davits so it's sitting just above the waterline, then the passarelle can be lowered over the dinghy. Many of the larger boats do this, and we find our passarelle is just long enough to do this a lot of the time.

 

[simonjames]

We bought ours secondhand of ebay from a guy who'd brought a med boat back to UK, it's a Bezenzoni 2.0 meter lightweight folding ally one cost £200 and in really good condition, they are available from time to time and pretty good value in UK.
As for davits we had a pair and a small Rib, but after a lot of soul searching we sold the rib and removed and sold the davits, as it just would not work stern to with a sugar scoop on our boat. I have seen various ribs and davits over here with the Rib lowered just enough for the passarelle to go over the top.

 

[Seren]

We have a GS Optima Gangway (made of polyurethane) supplied by Calibra Marine which is probably more expensive than some of the options in this thread but we are very impressed with it. Ours is the 2.2 mtr version(also a 2.6) and would not go shorter than that. Folds away nicely on stern when not in use to 110 x 15 cms weighing 12 kg. Has proved very user-friendly and safe for multiple crossings of infants to mildly infirm pensioners, heavy luggage, diesel cans etc. And, like our previous dodgy plank, it floats!