"Hoges in WA" wrote:


"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
Larry wrote:

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But I'm not sure if this was a standard ladder because they also have
a swim platform rigged like this

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/3938...er-Footman.jpg

They sure have a big last step from that platform to the deck!

I'm not sure whether the ladder folds down into the water from the
platform, or up onto the stern or whether they move their ladder from
along the lifelines to the stern/ I took the picture in 2000, and I
didn't even remember seeing that stern platform. We used the ladder
stowed along the sidelines to get onto the boat from the dinghy.

Thanks for the tips. My wife is becoming more reassured. She crushed her
ring finger (and rings) on the swinging ladder of the boat I mentioned
before in Exmouth last year.
Hoges in WA

I've had a number of issues with boarding, and Bob has spent a lot of
time looking for alternate solutions which did not work for me before
he finally gave in to just using our swim ladder.

Purchased ladders that hook to the side of the boat are too high out
of the water for me to be able to get my foot up out of the water to
the lowest rung, or if I can, then my foot is about neck level and (in
common with a lot of women), I can't chin myself or pull myself up far
enough to put my foot on the lowest rung in a more doable
configuration. Using those ladders to get into the dinghy is more
possible, but they tend to slide at the bottom because they are just
hooked over the edge at the top.

At first he thought that the dinghy had to be in the water in order to
use the swim ladder, but when I backed off the dock one November while
folding the sails for winter storage, he found that wasn't true. He
COULD push the dinghy out of the way so that he could deploy ladder.
That may also be part of the reason why he leaves it half down.

Just as an aside - even getting off the boat at a dock may be a
problem. The PO docked stern to, and used the swim ladder as a ramp.
But with the dinghy davits that we added, that wasn't a viable option.

Since we head into the slip, a short finger pier (like at Elizabeth
City) means that I have to climb off over the bow lifelines. At high
tide, a low fixed finger pier means a very long step down. I once
sliced my thigh open on a nail in the piling that I was holding onto
while I stepped down.

Floating docks are similarly a problem for me because they are at the
waterline, and we have a fairly high freeboard. So we carry a step
stool.

grandma Rosalie

S/V RosalieAnn, Leonardtown, MD
CSY 44 WO #156
http://home.mindspring.com/~gmbeasley/id1.html