"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
ps.com...
On Oct 26, 7:06 pm, "Glenn \(s/v Seawing\)"
wrote:
Hi! Looking to pick your brains a little. I am making some major
changes
to my boat this year. Some of you think I'm nuts & that alot of these
changes are not necessary. I remind you that my wife is eager to go back
cruising for a year or two at a time and lots of your wives are not.
:-).

One of the additions we are looking for is the addition of a swim
platform.
Our boat is a Gulfstar 41' Auxillary (the sailboat hull & not the trawler
hull). This vessel is a centre cockpit. We are looking to build a swim
platform on the stern as well as a fairly substantial boarding ladder
from
the platform to deck level. I'd like the platform to be fairly sturdy.

Please post your advise, observations & experience. I need to have some
ideas on design, construction methods & pitfalls I've not yet imagined.

Thanks all!

Glenn.
s/v Seawing.

Hi, Glenn, and group,

I put a platform on our boat in the course of our refit, and if you'd
like a link to the pictures agonizingly/excruciatingly documenting
that in my gallery, I'll send it along.

However, a couple of my design thoughts as I built it we

Not at the sea level, as it will take a beating in following seas.
Ours is halfway, which in our case is 2' up.

The form of the platform follows the hull line so at heel, it's not in
the water.

There's a ladder which can be lowered from in the water for safety to
board if accidentally overboard.

We have yet to put in a transom step, but we may, as it's a big step
up.

We extended and beefed up the standard West Marine platform in order
to provide a 30" base. With our reverse, we lost ~8" tucked under.

We used both tension and compression in the mount, with brackets at
the transom and tubing from the sides with a very substantial SS L for
the stern support. If you don't have both, you'll need huge brackets
and put the transom under enormous load. You'll want to allow for the
seas whacking on it either from above or below. For all that, our
stern sags, and the L was apparently inadequate, even at 1/8x1.5. If
you do that support design, I'd recommend 1/4"

HTH...

FWIW, yours is one of the boats we considered; I believe it will take
this mod very well. And, you're very right about the wife wanting to
go cruising. I can't tell you how many folks we've encountered -
including here in Cambridge, where I've got another Morganite giving
me a ride to West and other provisioning today - where the dream is
stillborn, or, worse, orphaned, where the wife leaves...

Good on you, and enjoy every moment, including the refit.

L8R

Skip

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
Follow us at http://groups.google.com/group/flyingpiglog and/or
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheFlyingPigLog

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to
make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its
hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."
(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)


Thanks Skip. Appreciated for sure. Glad to hear from someone who's thought
through the issues. I would appreciate pictures and other information
regarding the construction and installation of a swim platform. You can
post links or email to me. My hotmail address is globaltek2000...sorry,
just encrypting a little to prevent spam.

Yes, it's becoming clearer about the wife & cruising. If all it takes to
have a happy wife, eager to go cruising is a few boat comfort additions, I'm
in. I'm happy to to live pretty spartan, but sure like having my wife
along. We're planning to go for a year and a half this time, maybe longer
next...or maybe we'll never go 'home'. :-)

Thanks Skip!

Glenn.

I am coming in late on this thread ...

We had a Tayana 37 and needed a way to get our dogs into the dinghy.
What I did was build a platform (2x3) and affixed lines on each
corner. The front and rear lines on each side ran to cleats on the toe
rail. This way we could adjust the height/angle of the platform to
match the dinghy. The dogs had no problem jumping on to the platform
then into the dinghy.

What we discovered was this platfrom made a great swim platform as
well. It could be lowered right to the waterline and made it easy to
get in and out of the water. When we were done using it we stowed it
in a lazerrete.

Jerry

"Gerald Atkin" wrote in message
...
I am coming in late on this thread ...

We had a Tayana 37 and needed a way to get our dogs into the dinghy.
What I did was build a platform (2x3) and affixed lines on each
corner. The front and rear lines on each side ran to cleats on the toe
rail. This way we could adjust the height/angle of the platform to
match the dinghy. The dogs had no problem jumping on to the platform
then into the dinghy.

What we discovered was this platfrom made a great swim platform as
well. It could be lowered right to the waterline and made it easy to
get in and out of the water. When we were done using it we stowed it
in a lazerrete.

Jerry

Sounds like a very interesting idea. Have any photos?

Glenn.
s/v Seawing.

Glenn (s/v Seawing) wrote:
Hi! Looking to pick your brains a little. I am making some major
changes to my boat this year. Some of you think I'm nuts & that alot
of these changes are not necessary. I remind you that my wife is
eager to go back cruising for a year or two at a time and lots of
your wives are not. :-).

One of the additions we are looking for is the addition of a swim
platform. Our boat is a Gulfstar 41' Auxillary (the sailboat hull &
not the trawler hull). This vessel is a centre cockpit. We are
looking to build a swim platform on the stern as well as a fairly
substantial boarding ladder from the platform to deck level. I'd
like the platform to be fairly sturdy.

Please post your advise, observations & experience. I need to have
some ideas on design, construction methods & pitfalls I've not yet
imagined.

Thanks all!

Glenn.
s/v Seawing.

The boat I sail on, a Beneteau First 41.5 has a bathing platform hinged into
the transom. When closed the "flap" is sealed and flush with the transom,
and opens only when required. The "door" is in glassfibre and is shaped and
gelcoated exactly as the transom. Obviously this arrangement has been
allowed for in the mould, and would be very difficult to build as an add-on,
but it does work well and keeps the transom looking smart when not in use.

Dennis.

On Fri, 26 Oct 2007 23:06:51 +0000, Glenn (s/v Seawing) wrote:

Hi! Looking to pick your brains a little. I am making some major
changes to my boat this year. Some of you think I'm nuts & that alot of
these changes are not necessary. I remind you that my wife is eager to
go back cruising for a year or two at a time and lots of your wives are
not. :-).

One of the additions we are looking for is the addition of a swim
platform. Our boat is a Gulfstar 41' Auxillary (the sailboat hull & not
the trawler hull). This vessel is a centre cockpit. We are looking to
build a swim platform on the stern as well as a fairly substantial
boarding ladder from the platform to deck level. I'd like the platform
to be fairly sturdy.

Please post your advise, observations & experience. I need to have some
ideas on design, construction methods & pitfalls I've not yet imagined.

Thanks all!

Go for it! After cruising with a swim platform for the last 8 summers, I
wouldn't be without one. The boat is a 50' center cockpit built in 1983,
one of the first to have a swim platform at all.

The platform itself is teak, with a sturdy outside ring and 3 supporting
"joists" made from "2x3" and "2x4" sized lumber, filled in with slats that
are about 1x1. All the major joints are through-bolted. The
whole thing is joined to the hull with 2 angle plates made from 3/8"
stainless. It's sturdy as can be, still perfect after 24 years of stern
ties and minor collisions. The boat weighs about 18 tons.

A similar construction should work well on your boat. It's strong where
it counts, and would be easier to build than a grid design. It's also
easy to maintain. We have the outer ring varnished and the slats
left bare, which provides good traction and looks great. I just scrub the
slats occasionally to keep them from getting too gray and dingy from the
exhaust, which exits underneath. After living with it, I think it's a lot
better than the grid or solid designs on most other boats, and it
certainly looks better.

I don't know about structural safety in large breaking waves, but is that
really an issue where you're cruising? I suppose you could mount it on
sturdy hinges and make it fold, but I wouldn't count on that if damaging
waves are an issue.

Matt O.

Several years ago we bought an Island Packet 37 to go cruising up and down
the East Coast. The IP 37 has a near vertical transom. We needed a swim
platform to get off and on the boat and into our dinghy with groceries,
laundry and especially our 40 lb sheltie.

I had a swim platform fabricated from 1-1/4" SS tubing, supported by two
arms from the outside of the platform up to the back side of the transom. I
installed teak slats inside the SS framing. It was built by a rigging shop
in Annapolis and wasn't cheap- about $3000 as I recall. But it worked great.

David