Scuba gear on the yacht
 

Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the water
and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in how
anyone manages to exit in particular.

Clip lines? Small davits?

Explanation of systems would be most illuminating also ie how do you go
about it - what sequence.

I've just come back from a night dive onto a new-to-the-dive-industry
charter boat which has a platform at the rear but he hasn't put a ladder on.
It was difficult in the dark to take everything off and hand it up then
(with fins still on) make a seal-like burst onto the back. Lucky it was
very calm tonight, with only a little surface chop and no swell.

It got me to thinking a bit about future exits when I get my boat.

For those who are interested, this was where I was tonight:

http://www.scubaonline.com.au/showdivesite.asp?intID=22

thanks

Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote:

Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the water
and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in how
anyone manages to exit in particular.

Clip lines? Small davits?

Since we have a swim ladder on the stern and no platform (which even
if we had a platform I really could not manage without steps), we
usually get the dinghy down off the davits. I put my stuff in the
dinghy and then climb the ladder. Then we can pull the dinghy back up
to the davits and get the stuff from inside. If you are not certain
of your ability to pull the dinghy up evenly so things don't spill
out, it would be wise to attach the stuff somehow to the dinghy.

We also have a cloth ladder (made from tapes or straps) which goes
from one side of the dinghy at about the oarlock level across the top
of the tubes (this isn't the portabote), and goes down into the water.
I can put my feet into the rungs (without fins) and hold onto the part
that is over the top of the dinghy. I pull with my arms and push with
my feet and I can get into the dinghy from the water.

I have to have some kind of rung to step on that is in the water.

When I've tried to get into the portabote from the water, I swamp it.
So I'm in it, but it is floating (with me sitting in it) just below
the surface of the water.

Explanation of systems would be most illuminating also ie how do you go
about it - what sequence.

I've just come back from a night dive onto a new-to-the-dive-industry
charter boat which has a platform at the rear but he hasn't put a ladder on.
It was difficult in the dark to take everything off and hand it up then
(with fins still on) make a seal-like burst onto the back. Lucky it was
very calm tonight, with only a little surface chop and no swell.

It got me to thinking a bit about future exits when I get my boat.

For those who are interested, this was where I was tonight:

http://www.scubaonline.com.au/showdivesite.asp?intID=22

thanks

Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in
:

Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the
water and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in
how anyone manages to exit in particular.

Hoges in WA

I simply dive off of my RIB dingy. Loading it and unloading it isn't a
problem from the main boat. It's easy to get onto the dinghy with a strong
kick.

My Freedom 40/40 has a swim platform and ladder, so I can easily dive off
of that. Most of the time however, we use the dinghy to get to dive sites
as opposed to the big boat. Friends who don't have swim platforms drop
their gear into the water and jump into the water with giant stride.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the
water and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in how
anyone manages to exit in particular.

Clip lines? Small davits?

Explanation of systems would be most illuminating also ie how do you go
about it - what sequence.

I've just come back from a night dive onto a new-to-the-dive-industry
charter boat which has a platform at the rear but he hasn't put a ladder
on. It was difficult in the dark to take everything off and hand it up
then (with fins still on) make a seal-like burst onto the back. Lucky it
was very calm tonight, with only a little surface chop and no swell.

It got me to thinking a bit about future exits when I get my boat.

For those who are interested, this was where I was tonight:

http://www.scubaonline.com.au/showdivesite.asp?intID=22

thanks

Hoges in WA



Wow... that would make me get back into diving. I've never been to the Perth
area, just eastern Aus (didn't have much time though).


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in news:gIPEj.1102$n8.468
@news-server.bigpond.net.au:

Hoges in WA



Buy a European boat made to board from being backed up to a quay.

The Amel, for instance, has a nicely engineerred ladder that becomes a
boarding ramp if laid out horizontally, but becomes a step ladder if set
down vertically. It has mahogany (of course) panels that fit in it.

It stores along the rail at sea, starboard side aft. A pin acts as a pivot
and you just pivot it over the stern for stern-to docking or you can drop
it over the stern and the bottom two steps go into the water for swim
boarding or diving.

The really funny one was a friend's Hatteras 56 FBMY. It had a boarding
platform, but that was 30' below the stern of the outdoor aft salon deck
and there was no way to get down to it unless you could step onto it off a
dock alongside. I never found any kind of ladder it may have originally
come with..... It was a great diving platform, though, off the beach. He
had a rope ladder to reboard from in the water over the side like a
ship....

He nearly had a heart attack when I filled the tanks at $1.10/gallon way
back then. He'd be dead if I filled it on his credit card, now!....(c;
As soon as I got all its systems up and running, spending weekends in its
bilge with 32VDC power, engines, 2 gensets, 5 Air conditioners, various
water pumps (2), air compressors (1), hydraulic stabilizers, etc......HE
SOLD IT for $592K...........dammit. I just got where I could take a break
and lay back to enjoy it! They were way tired of hauling everything down
the dock trying to liveaboard it. I would be, too.

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the
water and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in how
anyone manages to exit in particular.

Clip lines? Small davits?

Explanation of systems would be most illuminating also ie how do you go
about it - what sequence.

I've just come back from a night dive onto a new-to-the-dive-industry
charter boat which has a platform at the rear but he hasn't put a ladder
on. It was difficult in the dark to take everything off and hand it up
then (with fins still on) make a seal-like burst onto the back. Lucky it
was very calm tonight, with only a little surface chop and no swell.

It got me to thinking a bit about future exits when I get my boat.

For those who are interested, this was where I was tonight:

http://www.scubaonline.com.au/showdivesite.asp?intID=22

thanks

Hoges in WA


Try one of these. It's easy to use with dive fins on. It's made of stainless
steel and the one I have has held up extremely well. It's easy to get off
the hull mounted bracket but won't fall off of its own devices.

http://www.garelick.com/product.php?pnumber=19833

--
Gregory Hall

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

On Mar 21, 9:18*am, Larry wrote:
"Hoges in WA" wrote in news:gIPEj.1102$n8.468
@news-server.bigpond.net.au:

Hoges in WA



Hey Hoges,

Are the guy with the red Freya????

Bob

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Gregory Hall" wrote in message
...

, snipped

Try one of these. It's easy to use with dive fins on. It's made of
stainless steel and the one I have has held up extremely well. It's easy
to get off the hull mounted bracket but won't fall off of its own devices.

http://www.garelick.com/product.php?pnumber=19833

--
Gregory Hall
Greg
There's one of these on a Jenneau I was on recently.

The ladder concept is great, open on the sides, but this particular boat
only had the ladder and no handholds up higher.

It was a mighty unsteady last step as you held on to the top of the ladder
and attempted to lunge for a guardrail.

A dive boat I was on in Exmouth last year had a swinging, closed ladder -
not good at all. On your example, the open rungs suit fins to a T.

Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Geoff Schultz" wrote in message
...
"Hoges in WA" wrote in
:

Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the
water and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in
how anyone manages to exit in particular.

Hoges in WA

I simply dive off of my RIB dingy. Loading it and unloading it isn't a
problem from the main boat. It's easy to get onto the dinghy with a
strong
kick.

My Freedom 40/40 has a swim platform and ladder, so I can easily dive off
of that. Most of the time however, we use the dinghy to get to dive sites
as opposed to the big boat. Friends who don't have swim platforms drop
their gear into the water and jump into the water with giant stride.

-- Geoff
www.GeoffSchultz.org

I used to dive off a RIB in the early 80s when I was at university. We were
a new uni and there wasn't much money around for clubs but we managed to get
some cash for the Avon inflatable. Then, I weighed about 70kgs. Getting in
was a bit like being a pike on the hunt -straight up and over the sides.
Now, I'm afraid, it's a lot more like a damn walrus clambering onto the
platform.

Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...
Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the
water and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in how
anyone manages to exit in particular.

Clip lines? Small davits?

Explanation of systems would be most illuminating also ie how do you go
about it - what sequence.

I've just come back from a night dive onto a new-to-the-dive-industry
charter boat which has a platform at the rear but he hasn't put a ladder
on. It was difficult in the dark to take everything off and hand it up
then (with fins still on) make a seal-like burst onto the back. Lucky it
was very calm tonight, with only a little surface chop and no swell.

It got me to thinking a bit about future exits when I get my boat.

For those who are interested, this was where I was tonight:

http://www.scubaonline.com.au/showdivesite.asp?intID=22

thanks

Hoges in WA



Wow... that would make me get back into diving. I've never been to the
Perth area, just eastern Aus (didn't have much time though).


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com


NOT good sailing - nowhere to go really. Very ancient flat land.

Diving, however, is a different story altogether. There's a chappy from your
country who's crossed the Pacific in a Beneteau 45 currently advertising for
crew for a trip from Mooloolaba in Queensland to all the way around to my
place and he's surfing and diving all the way. I'm tempted to quit work and
join up.
Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Hoges in WA" wrote in news:gIPEj.1102$n8.468
@news-server.bigpond.net.au:

Hoges in WA



Buy a European boat made to board from being backed up to a quay.

The Amel, for instance, has a nicely engineerred ladder that becomes a
boarding ramp if laid out horizontally, but becomes a step ladder if set
down vertically. It has mahogany (of course) panels that fit in it.

It stores along the rail at sea, starboard side aft. A pin acts as a
pivot
and you just pivot it over the stern for stern-to docking or you can drop
it over the stern and the bottom two steps go into the water for swim
boarding or diving.


Larry - I am fairly sure I couldn't afford an Amel. I read the ads that
the Potter chap has in Cruising World and dream but reality is different to
that.
I've been looking at Tayanas for a while now, hence my original question.
I'll try to find out some detail on the ramp for the Amel - anything that
has more than one use has things going for it.
Hoges in WA

snipped

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...
Wow... that would make me get back into diving. I've never been to the
Perth area, just eastern Aus (didn't have much time though).

NOT good sailing - nowhere to go really. Very ancient flat land.

Diving, however, is a different story altogether. There's a chappy from
your country who's crossed the Pacific in a Beneteau 45 currently
advertising for crew for a trip from Mooloolaba in Queensland to all the
way around to my place and he's surfing and diving all the way. I'm
tempted to quit work and join up.
Hoges in WA


Shows you how much I know about sailing in that part of the world.... I just
figured Perth was great sailing. By nowhere to go, do you mean there are no
good anchorages within reach?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...
Wow... that would make me get back into diving. I've never been to the
Perth area, just eastern Aus (didn't have much time though).

NOT good sailing - nowhere to go really. Very ancient flat land.

Diving, however, is a different story altogether. There's a chappy from
your country who's crossed the Pacific in a Beneteau 45 currently
advertising for crew for a trip from Mooloolaba in Queensland to all the
way around to my place and he's surfing and diving all the way. I'm
tempted to quit work and join up.
Hoges in WA


Shows you how much I know about sailing in that part of the world.... I
just figured Perth was great sailing. By nowhere to go, do you mean there
are no good anchorages within reach?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com


Yes. If you're in Perth, the capital of WA, you can go to Rottnest, some 12
miles away, with 300,000 other people. If you're lucky, you can get a
mooring. Maybe. After you've gone in the ballot for it. Rotto is a good
place to dive - something like 13+ wrecks and all shallow. However, because
it's the ONLY option for Perth, it's crowded.
North you can go to the Abrolhos but its a couple of days away.
South you can come down my way but there's nothing to explore - no rivers,
no bays, just long stretches of beach inshore with a prevailing south-wester
pushing you onto it.

Way further up north it gets more interesting but there's not much in the
way of shore-based support. Down south, you have to get to around Albany
before it's interesting also but it's pretty hairy weather down that way.

This is the principal reason why I do not yet have a boat - I'd be going
nowhere and what I want to see is half a world away. I'll be buying in
Florida and heading up the east coast of the US. I'll probably keep it for
when I return, but it'll simply be a floating RV, because the baby boomers
are going to clog the roads with caravans before long and I can still anchor
out in the places they're staying in.
Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in
:

I'll try to find out some detail on the ramp for the Amel - anything
that has more than one use has things going for it.
Hoges in WA


http://www.amel.fr/en/pages-amel/sha...tos-plans.htm#

The photo on the left shows the ladder stowed on its peg against the Amel's
hard rail aft. The photo on the right shows it swung overboard so you can
board the dink. It must be a really old photo. French women never wear
that much bikini any more....(c;

While you're there, you might as well watch the Amel 54 movies....(c;

We can all dream.....(c;

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

Larry wrote:

"Hoges in WA" wrote in
:

I'll try to find out some detail on the ramp for the Amel - anything
that has more than one use has things going for it.
Hoges in WA


http://www.amel.fr/en/pages-amel/sha...tos-plans.htm#

The photo on the left shows the ladder stowed on its peg against the Amel's
hard rail aft. The photo on the right shows it swung overboard so you can
board the dink. It must be a really old photo. French women never wear
that much bikini any more....(c;

While you're there, you might as well watch the Amel 54 movies....(c;

This ladder looks very much like the one I have on our boat. Some of
the CSYs had the side ladder that stows up along the lifelines, and
some (ours) have them at the stern. This isn't our boat, but our
ladder is similar

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1094...our-Nassau.jpg

We have ours half deployed while we are underway or when we are
traveling. There's a line on it so that if you leave it half down,
you can reach the line from the water and pull the ladder the rest of
the way down. This is useful if you fall off the boat or dock because
otherwise, the dinghy on the davits is in the way for deploying the
ladder. This one shows it folded up

http://cache.virtualtourist.com/7399...tona_Beach.jpg

These are with it deployed
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/7475...rtle_Beach.jpg
http://cache.virtualtourist.com/1576...ille_Beach.jpg

The one boat that I'm sure has a side ladder, I just don't have a
photo of that side of the boat. I do have this picture of a side
ladder

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

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

grandma Rosalie

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

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
"Hoges in WA" wrote in message
...
Wow... that would make me get back into diving. I've never been to the
Perth area, just eastern Aus (didn't have much time though).

NOT good sailing - nowhere to go really. Very ancient flat land.

Diving, however, is a different story altogether. There's a chappy from
your country who's crossed the Pacific in a Beneteau 45 currently
advertising for crew for a trip from Mooloolaba in Queensland to all the
way around to my place and he's surfing and diving all the way. I'm
tempted to quit work and join up.
Hoges in WA


Shows you how much I know about sailing in that part of the world.... I
just figured Perth was great sailing. By nowhere to go, do you mean there
are no good anchorages within reach?

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com


Yes. If you're in Perth, the capital of WA, you can go to Rottnest, some
12 miles away, with 300,000 other people. If you're lucky, you can get a
mooring. Maybe. After you've gone in the ballot for it. Rotto is a good
place to dive - something like 13+ wrecks and all shallow. However,
because it's the ONLY option for Perth, it's crowded.
North you can go to the Abrolhos but its a couple of days away.
South you can come down my way but there's nothing to explore - no rivers,
no bays, just long stretches of beach inshore with a prevailing
south-wester pushing you onto it.

Way further up north it gets more interesting but there's not much in the
way of shore-based support. Down south, you have to get to around Albany
before it's interesting also but it's pretty hairy weather down that way.

This is the principal reason why I do not yet have a boat - I'd be going
nowhere and what I want to see is half a world away. I'll be buying in
Florida and heading up the east coast of the US. I'll probably keep it
for when I return, but it'll simply be a floating RV, because the baby
boomers are going to clog the roads with caravans before long and I can
still anchor out in the places they're staying in.
Hoges in WA




There's always Diego Garcia. LOL


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Hoges in WA" wrote in
:

I'll try to find out some detail on the ramp for the Amel - anything
that has more than one use has things going for it.
Hoges in WA


http://www.amel.fr/en/pages-amel/sha...tos-plans.htm#

The photo on the left shows the ladder stowed on its peg against the
Amel's
hard rail aft. The photo on the right shows it swung overboard so you can
board the dink. It must be a really old photo. French women never wear
that much bikini any more....(c;

While you're there, you might as well watch the Amel 54 movies....(c;

We can all dream.....(c;

I made myself sit through the whole video looking for reasons why I wouldn't
want one.
Couldn't find one.
Hoges in WA

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote in
:

I made myself sit through the whole video looking for reasons why I
wouldn't want one.
Couldn't find one.
Hoges in WA


If it's any consolation, I couldn't find one, either....(c;

One of the neatest things on an Amel is the neat little lifeline crawler
that attaches to the fixed lifelines. It slides along the horizontal bar
until it comes to a stancion, then there's a neat little gear cog that
walks it around the stancion without letting go. You just tow it along so
easy. No need to have lifeline trip hazards laid along the deck to hook
yourself to.

To move the jib sheet car, even under full strain, you stick your winch
crank into the top of a waist-level shaft mounted to the rail stancion,
pull out a pin to release it and turn the crank until you get the car in
the position you want it, releasing the pin to lock in place. This long
shaft turns a pulley with tackle mechanical advantage that pulls the car
along in its track...very nice indeed. You don't even have to ease the
sheet, letting you watch the effect on the sail shape and telltales to find
that best spot for this tack.

None of the winches on the Sharki 41 are powered, dammit. But they are
very nice, first class winches.....all 12 of them.

Roller furled main and mizzen are also not powered on the Sharki. Winch
handle crank powered on the forward base of the hollow mast. AND, unlike
the Beneteaus, the sail winds up in a LARGE SLOT UNAFFECTED BY A TINY FOLD
which just fouls the hell out of the Beneteaus.

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

On 2008-03-21 14:36:14 -0400, "Gregory Hall" said:

Try one of these. It's easy to use with dive fins on. It's made of stainless
steel and the one I have has held up extremely well. It's easy to get off
the hull mounted bracket but won't fall off of its own devices.

http://www.garelick.com/product.php?pnumber=19833

They work nicely, but the ones I've seen aren't hinged so they can stay
in place and be deployed with a quick flip. You have to find some place
to stow them, as well.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

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

snipped
\
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!

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

grandma Rosalie

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

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Hoges in WA" wrote:


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

snipped
\
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

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
snip...
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



Our skipper had a Rubbermaid 2 step type stool nailed to his slip.
We had to be careful hopping off the Mirage 33 if the helmsman came into the
slip a bit fast. There's not a lot of surface area to land on. ;-)

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Don White" wrote:

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
.. .
snip...
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


Our skipper had a Rubbermaid 2 step type stool nailed to his slip.
We had to be careful hopping off the Mirage 33 if the helmsman came into the
slip a bit fast. There's not a lot of surface area to land on. ;-)

One of our passengers tried to leap from our boat to the one we were
getting ready to raft on, and fell. He had really badly bruised ribs
(he didn't fall in). He didn't say anything to us at the time, but
his SO told me about it later.

We NEVER jump off in docking. Sometimes it may take two tries, but
Bob has to get the boat close enough to the dock that I can get the
lines on a piling or to a person on the dock. He can get off after
we are attached (although we both have arthritis in our knees - my
sisters orthopedist says that everyone our age has creaky knees - but
his is apparently less advanced than mine).

Or in the case of our home dock, we leave the lines on the pilings on
the pier (fixed dock) and all I have to do is lift them off with a
boat hook and put the lines through the appropriate chocks or hawse
holes. There are chafe guards attached to the lines where they go
through, so I even know how long to leave the lines.

We also do have a wooden step stool that Bob built that is attached to
the pier. He built it after I ripped my thigh open on a nail that
time.

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
snipped
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.


We have the same problem of high freeboard and a low dock and it was a
problem for my wife,who is not so tall, to get down when we docked.
Then I saw an item called a 'fenderstep' which is a short fat fender with a
rope at each end so it hangs horizontally and has a nonslip top surface to
stand on.
Now, if she wants to, she can even be standing on it already as we come in
and then it is only a short step down.
We have two so we are ready on both sides if we are coming into a strange
marina and do not know in avance which side we will be docking onto. We use
them solely as steps but they are good fenders too if you want to use them
another way. She used to be wary of docking in case she hurt herself, but
not any more.
It is made by Danfender. Just put 'fenderstep' into Google.

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

Hoges in WA wrote:
Does anyone have a really truly brilliant system for getting into the water
and out of the water from their boat.

I'm particularly curious about canoe sterns etc but I'm interested in how
anyone manages to exit in particular.

Clip lines? Small davits?

Explanation of systems would be most illuminating also ie how do you go
about it - what sequence.

I've just come back from a night dive onto a new-to-the-dive-industry
charter boat which has a platform at the rear but he hasn't put a ladder on.
It was difficult in the dark to take everything off and hand it up then
(with fins still on) make a seal-like burst onto the back. Lucky it was
very calm tonight, with only a little surface chop and no swell.

It got me to thinking a bit about future exits when I get my boat.

For those who are interested, this was where I was tonight:

http://www.scubaonline.com.au/showdivesite.asp?intID=22

thanks

Hoges in WA



After trying to get back into my boat last year using a swim ladder I
was thinking of getting an Xtend & Climb (http://xtendandclimb.co.uk/new/).

My thought was that I could mount it upside down and store it compacted
with some rope hanging down. That way if I took an unexpected dunk I
could pull it down and get back in.

Any thoughts?

Scuba gear on the yacht
 

On 2008-03-23 14:23:50 -0400, Rosalie B. said:

"Don White" wrote:

"Rosalie B." wrote in message
...
snip...
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


Our skipper had a Rubbermaid 2 step type stool nailed to his slip.
We had to be careful hopping off the Mirage 33 if the helmsman came into the
slip a bit fast. There's not a lot of surface area to land on. ;-)

One of our passengers tried to leap from our boat to the one we were
getting ready to raft on, and fell. He had really badly bruised ribs
(he didn't fall in). He didn't say anything to us at the time, but
his SO told me about it later.

Oh, good catch, so to speak.

On one of our charters, a fairly experienced crew member jumped off
despite my "Captain Bligh's" crew instructions (below).

Broke both ankles. Sorta bummed out the crew, and of course he and his
wife spent much time in hospitals immediately and for some years later.
Not sure they ever got to Anegada.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/