Swim ladder solutions & SS welding

[JohnRPollard]

Doug,

Saw that you were signed in today, so I thought I'd bump this thread in case you have any suggestions. Regards, - John

[DGriffith]

Paul, Drop me an E-mail and I will send you some pictures. It appears the file size is too large to post here. Doug Griffith dr.lamb1@sbcglobal.net

[lukinc]

I need to install a wind vane on my 37_PSC

Can you tell me how this wind vane worked for you?
Do you have any info about the installation process that I can see?

Where can find Dave Dias's ex. of Cape Horn windvane install?

Newbie...lukinc
s/v Cool Breez'n
Seattle WA

[DMD]

Lukinc,
So far, I am very happy with the Cape Horn gear I installed on our PSC 37. We have not crossed any oceans with it yet, but find it to be easy to use even when day sailing with frequent coarse changes. We chose the Cape Horn because of its very clean installation, and no lines across our already crowded cockpit. Another vane to consider that many PSC owners use successfully is the Monitor, also a good choice. Either way, having a steering vane is a great addition to these boats. Photos of our Cape Horn Installation are on the Cape Horn website.
Regards,
Dave
Crealock 37
"Eowyn"

[BirdBrain333]

Originally Posted by discoverer37

Thanks to everyone for their help.
[Snip...]
Another wacky idea I had was to move the Cape Horn a few inches off center, and slide the ladder a little in the other direction, [Snip...]
Paul Discoverer PSC37 #135

Dear Paul, Moving the Cape Horn off center is NOT a wacky idea in any way. they can be moved quite a bit and still function fine. Space in the lockers just forward of the propane locker is a bit tight but with some judicious work with plywood mock up pieces I think it can be easily done. I'd also contact Yves at Cape Horn -- he is a very inventive and resourceful guy.

Our Cape Horn, "Eve," had a great time steering us through all sorts of weather this summer!


Jay

PSC 37 Kenlau

[BMLipiec]

After installing a Monitor vane, we installed the Mystic folding ladder and are extremely happy with it. I too was concerned about the jib sheets fouling on the ladder, but it has not been a problem. The ladder folds up even with the outside of the stanchions, and the jib has never caught on it. The stanchions are also wide enough that it is still easy to board the boat from the dock with the ladder up.

The only potential issue I have found is the ladder is in the way of if you want to move the jib car forward of the ladder. However, the ladder comes off very easily by moving one of the ladder track attachements, and then both ladder attachments can be slid forward out of the way. The ladder is small enough that it could then be stored below. That being said, I haven't seen a need yet to ever remove it.

If you are thinking about getting it I highly suggest the longer ladder. We were talked into getting the longer ladder by the salesman at the boat show even though our freeboard is pretty low. After using it to board the boat from the water, I am really glad we got the longer one - it makes getting up very easy.

On a side note, We used stainless padeyes to cover up the spots where the stern ladder was attached previously. On a white hulled boat it might have been fairly easy to epoxy the holes and blend the gel coat, but when we removed our ladder we found a 3" white circle underneath.

[Podjo]

I have a solid stainless stern rail that I removed from a PSC37, and I would like to sell it. It does not have the gate, as a monitor wind vane was installed behind it. Taking off the rail was not too hard. It was trickier putting on the new rail with the gate. The trick to putting the rail on was to fashion lines to pull posts to their respective holes. I liked using trucker's hitches to do it. I the rail in Oriental North Carolina if you would like to see it.

[crazyfish]

When Crazy Fish was built the factory moved the ladder from the position shown in the first post to a location just a bit forward on the starboard side.

Some simple welding was done to modify the legs and attach it to its new
location on the stern pulpit. The relocation was requested to accommodate a Monitor wind vane.

When the stern pulpit was redone with the addition of a radar arch the ladder was removed and replaced by folding stainless steel ladder that mounted to sail track at the port gate. It folds 3 times which allows the ladder when unfolded to extend into the water about a foot which makes it much easier to climb onto the boat when in the water.

The position of a folding ladder at the gate when sailing is a bit of problem as the jib sheet tends to get entangled in it. A separate mount was built for it inboard on the port mast pulpit and that is where it normally lives. Typically do not use the ladder when getting on the boat from the dinghy so it seems to stay there even when at anchor.

Marc Hall
Crazy Fish, Crealock 37 Hull 207
San Diego

[okapi3]

I installed a CapeHorn on my 31 this season. I realize my transom is flat and not round like yours, but you might be interested in my "solution."

I thought and thought about the problem of the swim ladder for months before buying the gear and still didn't have a solution when I brought my friend who is a general contractor and not a sailor with me to help install it. He asked me what I was going to do about the swim ladder and I said I didn't know. He looked at the stern and said, "why don't we just move it to one side?" I said, " but there's no opening in the stern pulpit there." He said, "So what. If you're fit enough to go swimming ,then you're fit enough to climb over the the rail to get in and out of the boat." It took 20 minutes, and zero dollars to relocate the swim ladder and I have been using it with little problem since.

I am probably violating some safety rules but I am very happy with how simple and inexpensive my solution was.

I will try and post a photo when I get some time to figure out how.

Paul

[samchristo]

We installed a Monitor a few years back and purchased a Mystic ladder to replace the stern ladder. We do on rare occasion foul a sheet on the ladder but not often and to no detriment to either ladder or sheet. We do like being able to move the ladder from side to side when we're traveling and have installed mounting brackets to both port and starboard tracks. We've also come to appreciate having steps well below the water - it makes boarding a lot easier.

If you use a detachable ladder make sure you securely set the standoffs. I'm lucky I didn't do damage when mine collapsed as I was climbing aboard wearing scuba gear.

Sam
s/v Grace PSC34