Transom mounted boarding ladder?

[downeast450]

All good points. I drag my "custon" rope ladder when I am aboard alone. The first thing I do after reaching the boat at the mooring is toss it overboard. It lives in the cockpit secured to a pad eye. It was tied by a local, Ilsford, lobsterman, and is a work of art. I will keep it when it gets replaced. It does have three rungs in the water but not being rigid, using it is a little more challenging than a rigid ss platform will be. Custom work is easy to come by here, if pricy, and I agree it is a worthy safety expense. I know later I 28's do have ss ladders with standoffs that fold up high. I don't want a telescoping one. The one that tschmidty sent a listing for looks like it could have a couple of standoffs added. Having 3 rungs below the water's surface is certainly necessary.

Thanks,

Down

[Alex W]

I went through the same search when trying to find a replacement ladder for my Catalina 25. None of the easy available options seemed like they would work very well and I wasted a couple of hours searching catalogs and looking at options.

The good news is that Catalina Direct started offering the C-25 ladder design again, and it is a very easy one to retrofit to other boats with a near vertical transom.
Catalina Direct: Transom Swim LadderCP-18, CP-22, C-25, C-27

When folded up the bottom rung should be near the stern pulpit rail level. When folded down the bottom rung is in the water, with the other 3 going up the stern.

I recommend securing the ladder using a line tied with a slip knot that can be reached from the water. That way the ladder can be deployed from the water if something goes wrong.

[downeast450]

How do side mount ladders work? Storage? Deployment? I have never seen a permanently installed one.

Down

[chucklesR]

You wouldn't permanently mount a side ladder, just the sliding connectors so once it's on it is secure. Mine goes over the toe rail and hooks to the bulwark.
The stern ladder is permanent, the side is the one that gets most of the use once we drop the hook.
It folds for storage and gets hooked on when we need it/ want it. Permanent mounting would be a problem in the slip.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by downeast450

How do side mount ladders work? Storage? Deployment? I have never seen a permanently installed one.

Down

They generally drop into a couple of on-deck hard points, and hang over the side with folding standoffs against the hull. The cheap ones are aluminum with plastic treads, more costly Stainless, good ones have a folding drop down section for extra depth. They are rather long and cumbersome to store, the aluminum ones are weak and can fail at the standoff point with too much side loading.

I've seen versions that clip into points on the hull side below the gunwales too..

I've also seen versions that fold up completely into a rather bulky section of stanchions, effectively making up part of the lifeline structure. Generally they won't go particularly deep.

Boats with high freeboard often use short versions of these to make it easier to step aboard from a low floating dock. On large yachts these can take the form of fold-out platforms c/w swim ladders attached.

For most practical use the mounting points should be port and starboard so if you're rafted or docked you could still have a place to use the ladder. But ultimately it's the stern ladder that will be almost always accessible and instantly deployable.

Here's a link to some side mounted types:

Cabela's: Search Results

[downeast450]

Thanks,

A transom ladder is what I want. If I have to have one built I will. It won't get used much but I want some deep, rigid steps available if needed. We board from the side of the boat and can still step in from the Avon. It is a bit of a stretch in calm water using the rigid stern seat of the Avon. Swells can help if your timing and coordination are good. Ha! Kneeling works!

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