Yes, sorry, backing plate inside and just more of the same material on the outside which I incorrectly referred to as the same thing.
I will have the 2 rungs in the water. I was answering the concern that I may also need to add one or more above.
I bought 3/8" bolts on my way in this morning.
Please keep the critiques and questions coming; I don't want to screw this up!
Quote:
Originally Posted by sailingdog
Ummm... you do realize that the backing plate goes INSIDE the hull, and acts to spread the load of the bolts out over a larger area of the hull than would otherwise be the case, right??? 
By definition—if you're epoxying a plate to the outside of the hull—it isn't a backing plate. While your idea of using a mounting plate to attach all the mounting points to and then epoxying it to the hull is a good one, you still need a backing plate for the top bolts—the larger the better.
I think his point was more that if the ladder doesn't extend down into the water enough, it will be very, very difficult for you to use it to climb aboard from the water. You generally need to have a minimum of two rungs of the ladder below the water's surface in order for you to get your feet on the bottom rung and climb back aboard. |