Passerelles & pulpit ladders

[Captain_Cava]

Next spring we are off to the sun. We hope to spend the next few years of our lives sailing for 6 months each year, with 6 months back home. I have spent 15 years sailing the South Coast, West Country, CIs and Northern France, but have never sailed in the Med, so my question is......

do I need to go to the expense of fitting a passerelle, and the expense of having a pulpit boarding ladder made?

The plan (if you can call it that) might be to spend the first season coast hopping to Gib (why rush accross Biscay? Just think of all that lovely food you would miss?), the second season Balearics, South France, Sardinia, Corsica etc., third season Italy & Greece, and who knows where after that.

The general impression I've gleaned from others is that there is no need for these things until you reach the Med. What do others with Med experience think?

Also, would it be better to have these things made / fitted in the UK (where the boatyards don't really have any practical experience of using such items) or would it be better to wait until Gibraltar? The same question applies to a bimini.

Any opinions from Med 'old handers' gratefully received.

 

[sailinglegend420]

We have the same plans as you and have made a passerelle out of old bits - cost us nothing. It's actually and old beam 6"x2"x8' with skateboard wheels bolted both ends and small slats of wood every 12" for foot holds. It's tied onto the boat and the wheels slide on the harbour wall and on the sugarscoop at the back. They also fit perfectly over our Delta anchor when deployed on the bow.

That's the theory - we have used it yet, but it does of course have a second usuage as an 8 ft skateboard.

 

[Onyva]

Well from our experience you have made the first right decision i.e. to spend 6 months on and 6 off. In terms of getting on and off the boat it really depends on how big you are I think (e.g. in terms of stowage) and whether or not you have a bow thruster. We don't have one and tended to go "bows to", although we did have an excellent bow ladder which we just ordered from the boat manufacturer. If you prefer going stern to then that really dictates your strategy I think. There is an EXCELLENT stainless steel man in Gib if you want something fancy otherwise, from watching other sterntoers, just take a strong plank with a couple of drilled holes in one end (to secure it to the boat), either fit a small fender or small wheels at the other end and develop the rest as you go. This will no doubt entail using your topping lift to raise / drop it, perhaps some bungy cord aswell and some sort of makeshift "handrail" for those times when you can no longer walk in straight line i.e. when you're pissed! Bon courage.

 

[PLEIAS]

Another idea that might be more handy as i have seen it used on a lot of boats down here is to take the smallest piece from those 3 piece aluminium step ladders and fit a piece of plywood on top.Easy light and robust construction.And if you some day dont need it any more as a passarele then you can use it on the boat when on the hard or at home.

 

[LadyJessie]

We have been cruising the Med for 4 years now without a passerelle. You have a choice of either the problem of making, storing and fitting one, or the problem of not having one and a somewhat difficult boarding at some places. We have a boat with a swimming platform in the stern scoop and can most of the time get close enough to a quay so that we can just step off the stern onto the quay. It can be a little bit of a jump sometimes, but then passerelles can give you a false sense of security; I have seen people falling off wobbly passerelles and hurting themselves badly. You make your choices......

If we cannot get close enough to the quay to jump off (ballasting sticking out in some places) we put the dingy between the stern and the quay and use that as a boarding platform.

 

[AlanPound]

Slightly off your main topic - but I suggest that Gib is a useful waypoint (with good opportunities to fix up the boat etc), but I wouldn't suggest it as an actual "destination" (somewhere to "hang out"!)

Lagos maybe, others will have perhaps better suggestions, but Gib is a bit grim in most respects (except as above)...

Alan

 

[vyv_cox]

Now in our third year in the Med.

We originally berthed bows-to but this was not easy, mainly due to the design of our pulpit. So if you are intending to do it that way, think through the problems that may be encountered and come up with a design that will work, bearing in mind that quay heights will vary from about 200 mm to 1.5 metres above the water. At this stage we had a ladder with thin timber on top as a passarelle, stowed along the stanchions. It was a pain in the bum, sheets tangled around it on every tack.

Last year we made a decision to berth stern-to whenever possible and fitted a stern platform. We dumped the ladder and picked up a plank, 2 metres long. Most of the charter companies use the same thing. This season we have found berthing far easier in all repects, although some might find the lack of privacy a problem. It is easy to forget, when walking about the boat in your birthday suit, that people may be passing by with a clear view aboard. We can still use the plank on top of the anchor if the weather forces us to berth bows-to.

The cost of buying bimini, platforms, etc abroad can be very high. Our bimini was bought in Barcelona and, even with a substantial discount due to buying through my son's Spanish company, cost well over the odds. I would look around for a company in UK who can do the work to your design. As ever, if you can find a non-yachting company the cost will be halved. If you need pictures of typical designs, PM me.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Some sort of aid is essential if you're going stern to. Type depends on your stern set-up and clutter. 2m is a sensible length, since in many harbours you have to moor far enough from the quay to survive wash and surge.

However, I survived a couple of years going bows to without needing a dedicated aid. I have an agile wife . . . we used the chafing plank if the height difference was too much for comfort.

Agree with Vyv-cox. First choice is simple plank. Holes in each corner to take lashings. Can be used at the bow too - I used a stainless tube which could quickly be fitted across the foredeck right up front. Plank lashed to that.

Easy stowage for the plank is outboard of the stanchions, lashed to the top rail and held in by the lower rail. Kept it well clear of the sheets. Typical live aboard I suppose, stuff hung on all around the boat.

 

[Richard10002]

[ QUOTE ]
we used the chafing plank if the height difference was too much for comfort.

[/ QUOTE ]

What's a chafing plank?

Since starting our cruise across the med in June I've been looking at these passarelle things at anything upwards of 400 euros, and have always walked away. The only time it was an issue was in Amalfi where we dropped our anchor and berthed stern to the tourist boat quay. As there was a bit of a ledge under water, and quite a swell, I held her well off the quay and we used the dinghy as a platform to get ashore.

Arrived in Portomaso marina, malta, where the quay is quite high, and stepping up from the bathing platform is not particularly practical. However, the marina supply planks with a length of rope tied through two holes at the end, and there is a wrap of carpet which kind of protects the boat from the wood - this doesnt work as the screws which hold the carpet dig in as it moves around. I've put a towel under the carpet to protect the boat from the screws and this seems to work OK.

We send the plank ashore at night and lengthen the lines to take us away from the quay.

So I am now looking for a plank which can be tethered to the boat and, possibly, held up and stayed at the shore end, using a spare halyard or something.

 

[jimbaerselman]

[ QUOTE ]
What's a chafing plank?


[/ QUOTE ] When alongside a rough quay, or a wall which has vertical piles with gaps between, your 'chafing plank' is supported from each end outboard of your fenders, either taking the damage from the rough stuff, or bridging the gaps between piles. Essential in Tarifa . . . and in many fishing harbours - such as N coast of Spain.

 

[grafozz]

after having pulled , very quickly, a 3 year old girl who had slipped off the smooth "gangplank" tied to the stern of a charter boat in fiscardo in june this year i would suggest springing your yacht back to the quay when you wish to go ashore . second choice if the crew is not brave enough to jump a bit, is a passerelle with ribs / straps for grip and please all , put lifejackets on ALL young children . this poor little girl was under the water after her mother had vainly tried to pull her out and she had slipped from her grip , thank god i was able to react with enough speed to bring her to safety, it takes a few seconds for these situations to become disasters .

 

[AlanPound]

We have the problem that we carry a dinghy in davits, so have to scale that to reach the pontoon or whatever. We overcome this by lowering the dinghy to below the level of the passarelle, but not so as to touch the water. Its a fairly new dinghy, so we make every attempt with the bow-line to ensure it doesn't get hammered between boat and pontoon, but in the death I guess, I'd rather we busted the dinghy than the boat (big fender, that dinghy)!

We made the passarelle from what we had as an (unused) tatty old fender board, just over 2m long, and about 12" wide. Sanding it down and varnishing revealed quite a splendid piece of timber - not teak, but attractive hardwood nonetheless..

We found a fitting that is a bit like a flagstaff socket to screw down to the toerail at the stern, and another fittiing with a 1" peg on it that we screwed to the underside of the plank - together pretty much fixing (pinning) the plank to the toerail, whilst allowing a certain amount of articulation, albeit limiting any rocking.

As we lower the dinghy and mount the plank in place *prior* to reversing up to the dock (so brave crew can leap ashore with the sternlines), we need to hold the aft end of the plank up.

We use a spare (mizzen) halliard, and shackle that to a bridle that attaches to each side of the plank at the extreme aft end. The bridle itself is about 3m high, and to enable us to walk between the sides of the bridle, there is a piece of metal tube rigged as a spreader, about 2m above the plank.

Once secured to the dock, we add a further line on each side, from the plank end, to the end of each davit - thus further improving the stability should anyone (ahem) try to board, late at night, and in any way, um, inebriated...

So basically, we made (and improved) ours over a period of time, for relatively little cost...

 

[jimbaerselman]

Very good point about the safety issue of using planks etc. When in port, our bathing ladder is always down. In my opinion a bathing ladder is an essential safety aid, not a luxury item.

 

[affinite]

IMO if you are intending to sail in Greece, a plank or passarelle is a must. We had a passarelle fitted and wouldn't be without it. I agree with Jims comments re security; we had the swinging attachment that was supplied as std replaced with a sturdy fixed mount. Ours is quite a long passarelle which is a bit of a lump on the stern but it does mean we can leave a healthy gap to the quay when mooring.
I prefer to go stern to as it means I can use my main bow anchor and recover it with the windlass when we leave. (If your boat is over about 10/11m you will probably have no choice but to go stern to as an anchor suitable for deploying from the stern, when mooring bows to, would be a pain to recover) The "healthy gap" between your stern end and the quay is important as many greek harbours have areas where ballast and other underwater debris foul the base of the quay and are just waiting to do your rudder some damage.
Also, I've seen many boats (particularly bare boat charters) moor stern to and almost touching the quay, I guess so as to allow the crew to easily step on/off the back - I've usually then seen the same crew desparately fending off with chunks of the stern being bashed off when the boat is "ferry washed"

I also have a bow ladder - never used it.
Bimini - bought mail order from the US and totally rubbish - might as well be made of chocolate when it comes to withstanding a Greek meltemi.

 

[Swagman]

Simply put, IMHO its worth getting a passerell for Med mooring. You don;t need to spend thousands (although you could) - one can source neat folding stainless / teak jobbies for around £250 in the UK.
If you're not worried about looks, as had been explained above, an aluminium ladder with some covering (ply or alu sheet) and a good way of attaching to stern with a single pin and wheels to handle dock side contact will do.
For the bow to mooring, IMHO simply buy a fender step. Most bow to moorings leave you so close to the dock you need to climb up, rather than walk aboard!
All IMHO. Good luck
JOHN

 

[Richard10002]

[ QUOTE ]
Very good point about the safety issue of using planks etc. When in port, our bathing ladder is always down. In my opinion a bathing ladder is an essential safety aid, not a luxury item.

[/ QUOTE ]

Dealing with some squeaking ropes a few weeks ago, (about 3am!!), I fell in off the stern platform. Climbed up the ladder, none the worse for wear, just wet. Without the ladder it would have been much harder.

Janet thought I'd dropped the plank, (passarelle), which I had, so rolled over and waited for my return. Only when I opened the shower room door whispering, "I fell in!!", did she leap into action with towels and coffee, at the same time as laughing her socks off.

Apparently I didnt make a sound, (other than the splash), even when climbing back aboard.

Just to reinforce the point of having some means of getting aboard if you fall in.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know that there is a perfect solution that fits all harbours. Like you, I have a tender on davits but I don't fancy having a passerelle long enough to span it.

I had a bow ladder made up in Gibraltar (cost about £150) and was made well. We never have a major problem though it is true that a ladder is not as convenient as a passerelle, when the latter is set up safely.

In the UK nobody had a clue about what was needed, but in Gib they understood perfectly and we were able to talk through the options. My vote is wait until Gib, talk to others who have experienced it, walk around the marinas on the way down (e.g. Portugal) and finally make the decision with the metalworker in Gib.

 

[vyv_cox]

As if by magic - Affinite II!

Taken in Poros, 19/8/2007.

I agree with all you say. Berthing bows-to with a chain/rope combination can be a risky business. We have had encounters with other boats several times when our anchor chain finished up between their rudder and keel, usually during their departure manouevres in fresh cross-winds. If we had been bows-to we could well have lost our rope rode. Last year when bows-to in Alghero with a lazy line mooring a large motor boat caught the line round his prop and cut it without a second thought. This was inconvenient for us but at least didn't cost us anything.

In Italy berthed bows-to a rough quay our anchor hit concrete very hard in the wash of a large fishing boat. We didn't have a plank or passarelle but thought we were well enough off the quay. We weren't. We smashed the plastic bow roller and bent its axle bolt.

Our bimini was bought off-the-shelf and was unusable in anything over force 4. We added struts, costing us over 100 Euros, that probably could have been included in the original design for free.

 

[jimbaerselman]

Re: As if by magic - Affinite II!

Useless statistic for you:

In five years of intensive sailing in the Med (6 months a year) in a 12.3m yacht, I've anchored bows to using an 18kg britany with 7m chain. My anchor line was severed once by a motor vessel, but not in critical circumstances. Since then I've sunk the stern line by hanging my old CQR off it, about 5m from the stern. Keeps it all low enough to be safe from marauding rope cutters.

In a vessel which doesn't 'do' astern, there's a strong incentive to find ways around any problems of mooring 'bows to' . . .

 

[vyv_cox]

Re: As if by magic - Affinite II!

I carry a collection of diving weights that I use for the same purpose.

In possibly the worst incident that happened to us last year, at Vathi Ithaca, sinking the rope would have been out of the question as the wind was too strong. Our boat, 10.6 metres, and anchor were supporting a Greek-flagged wooden motor-sailer about 14 metres long, with its passarelle and tender wrapped around our forestay and its keel on the downwind side of our chain. The wind was on the beam, about 25 knots. Even with a good weight on a rope rode I doubt very much whether this would have been avoided. Ultimately I was forced to lower my chain, resulting in my transom colliding with the quay.