coopec
N/A
Would you hold the ladder up with Velcro and have a rope hanging down?
Maybe a quick release knot as used by horsemen?
Swim ladder design
- Thread starter vic008
- Start date
Would you hold the ladder up with Velcro and have a rope hanging down?
Maybe a quick release knot as used by horsemen?
prv
Well-Known Member
Maybe - but if I did I'd use an actual highwayman's hitch, not that mess of a slipped overhand knot around the standing part.
Pete
coopec
N/A
WoodyP
Well-Known Member
My treads on my boarding ladder are tubular. A big design fail as they are excruciatingly uncomfortable in bare feet.
coopec
N/A
doug748
Well-Known Member
Mine is maybe a few inches below the water and is usable, the technique is to pull the knees up, kneel on the bottom rung, pull your weight upwards and inwards, towards the boat and work from there. (I and my wife are no spring chickens) If your ladder can go down maybe a foot or eighteen inches further that would greatly improve matters.
Of course this is not ideal for the older swimmer but you do get structural problems when you start considering deeper stuff. Coopec's ladder in post 11 looks like the sort of thing to aim for if possible.
Use as a rescue device is another matter, a ladder is probably only viable in the most favourable of circumstances
.
DeepKeel
Well-Known Member
I agree, it's important to distinguish using a stern ladder to climb out in flat water when alongside in a marina, and bouncing around in a seaway. For the latter the stern ladder becomes a lethal device for killing swimmers.
coopec
N/A
Maybe I'll have to go for something like this? They are 65 1./2 inches and only cost $A202
cherod
N/A
Thot inducing thread ?
PetiteFleur
Well-Known Member
Mine extend about 30" below the water surface - when I fell in when getting into my dinghy, the hardest part was getting to the latch which secured the lower to the fixed upper part. I did manage it eventually but it was not easy. Following this swim I fitted a cord to the latch with a handle which is just above the water so easy to use, then the top half folds down. I was wearing an auto LJ at the time and the water was warm.
coopec
N/A
Were you worried that when the top half folded down you weren't poleaxed?
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
Great minds think alike, I've done the same.
coopec
N/A
How do you get the ladder back up?
Elessar
Well-Known Member
A good starting point is “the yellow book” which is the book of regulations you have to follow if you code your boat for charter.
This requires the ladder to go 600mm below the operational waterline. This should be considered a minimum IMO.
Im just refitting my ladder. I’ve gone for 5 steps and the water line is between step 4 and 5 so about 900mm underwater.
This is comfortable to use.
It’s a useful MOB tool in flat water and it can be deployed by a person in the water.
This is good safety feature therefore as most MOBs are in harbour.
But as this thread has drifted to MOB generally I’d say forget a stern ladder for MOB in any sort of a sea.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
None of those look as good as the one I once fitted to a Sadler 29. I ordered it from somewhere on the South Coast and I think that 'south' appeared in their name. It differed from the ones shown by having four fixing points instead of the two hinged ones in common use. This made it much more stable and the the two adjacent treads made single wider ones when folded. My current HR one has three steps underwater and one above, extending to about 37" below the surface.
Sandro
Well-Known Member
Minimum 3' - 900 mm for an aged sailor.
In my little open boat it is fitted alongside near a shroud for a high hand grip and can be deploied by a swimming person.
In my little open boat it is fitted alongside near a shroud for a high hand grip and can be deploied by a swimming person.
LadyInBed
Well-Known Member
A cord attached to the bottom rung up to the guard rail close to the ladder.
When back onboard, hold cord out and away from the stern to give a pulling angle.
PetiteFleur
Well-Known Member
No, the hinge is stiff(actually distorted - obviously been bashed at some time before our ownership!) so has to be pulled down.
PetiteFleur
Well-Known Member
By going down the ladder, reaching and pulling it up but as said earlier the hinges are stiff.
pandos
Well-Known Member
I modified one some years ago so that the lower section was inclined rather than vertical. It was very easy to use albeit a bit bulky when raised.
It was on a boat that was used regularly to swim from and the previous design was very difficult to use even for fit folks..
It was on a boat that was used regularly to swim from and the previous design was very difficult to use even for fit folks..
