living aboard while on the hard

[xort]

I ran into a cruising couple who carried a folding ladder aboard. They used it when hauling out and painting the bottom.
It was one of those ladders that can fold into a scaffold or a step or a straight ladder. They used the scaffold to paint the hull and then used it as a ladder to climb aboard.
This was on a 45' boat.
I'm planning a similar adventure but figured ladders would be available at marinas I haul at.

What say the experienced cruisers? IF you had room would you carry a folding ladder?

[deniseO30]

make up some ratlines LOL (rope ladders like on square riggers)

[sailingdog]

Xort-

Don't be expecting smaller marinas and boatyards to have a ladder you can use for an extended period of time... it ain't going to happen.

[PBzeer]

I would simply check with the marina you will be using. I've had no problem with ladders when I've been hauled, but perhaps I'm just lucky.

[AlpineSailor]

One of those telescoping type ladders may be a good choice for easy stowing on a boat.

[Slooptattoo]

Use it for a week, stow it for 51? Go to a yard that can afford a ladder or rent a scaffold, IMHO storage space on my boat is too valuable to occupy with a ladder. However if you have that much storage space, it's your call to make. Good luck in the yard.

[xort]

Originally Posted by Slooptattoo

Use it for a week, stow it for 51? Go to a yard that can afford a ladder or rent a scaffold, IMHO storage space on my boat is too valuable to occupy with a ladder.

Yea, I'm thinking the same thing. The couple had a foldable ladder thay carried on the trunk over the aft cabin on a CC boat. Didn't take up much room.
I'd expect to only haul every 2 years for routine maintenance so I figured it's not something I want to carry. But I didn't think to ask them why they felt the need. So I'm asking around...how available are ladders in the DIY yards? If yards are charging a fortune for ladder rental, then I might just bring one along. But it does seem excessive.

[camaraderie]

I've never had a problem getting a ladder in a yard to use. But I always tie it to my rail...before some other soul deprives me of a way to get down! (g)

[sailaway21]

Cam's above precautions come from an unfortunate Saturday afternoon in a previous life when Mrs Cam decided that ALL the leaves would be cleaned from the gutters before the football game was watched. (g)

What was the name of that folding ladder that was all over the info-mercials a few years ago? Little Giant or something, I believe. I've seen one up close and they look impressive, both in collapsed size and flexibility of use. I suspect it would be ideal, but pricey. I've never been a fan of ladders at sea-some type of superstitution I expect. We were always able to steal enough of them while in the shipyard to meet our needs. (and we had many needs!) The better quality yards will have an ample supply of them and should they not i would be inclined to approach the yard superintendant and offer to purchase one jointly with the yard ponying up half and keeping the ladder upon launching, in return for exclusive rights while in the dock.

[Sasha_V]

One of the yachts my wife and I did our sail training oon carried a similar ladder as part of its kit, even though our club (and theirs) was amptly equiped with such for boat work.

At one point we all arrived exhausted at about 10pm to the Queenscliffe seawall, and the only spot available was sheer concrete walls about 12 feet above the deck.... The skipper set up the ladder, had two of us hold it while he went up, short chain and padlock attached it to a top ring and secured it for our use.

On another occassion when needing to stock the boat for the Melb/Hobart race, the ladder became a gangplank, with a wooden plank laid atop it. This facilitated easy tranfer of sails and supplies while tied up to a less then stellar dock.

I beileve the skipper also mentioned that if the crap was really hitting the fan, that ladder was part of his sea-anchour / drogue plan.

I have never known the man to carry excess nonsense on board (except for some of his choces in crew) and thoguh we certainly do not carry one on my boat, he seemed to arrive at the ocnclusion that it was a good idea.

Sasha