How do I rig my stern ladder so that I can drop it from the water? The is the current situation is two clips hold each end of the folded up ladder to the rail. I tried to post a photo but the system says my message is too long with the photo.
Do I get rid of the current clips and use some sort of snap shackle?
Dan Mills
sakina NS30U 460
West River, MD.
Hi Dan,
I made a rig a few years ago that works absolutely great. Did a write up on it. I’ll try to find it for you.
Meanwhile, we are darn near neighbors, so you are invited to come to Solomons and sail with me and I can show you the rig. I have a bunch of pics.
That’s amazing. Yes, if you can find your write-up, send it my way. Once I’m settled in West River, I’ll plan to come down to see it. How were you able to post images? Any time I tried, the thing said my email was too long.
Thanks,
Dan
I imitated Butch’s scheme after he posted about it a few years ago, and think it’s a very good idea.
I made what I humbly regard as two small improvements to his design, because I was concerned that the ladder would come down really fast and bonk me on the head.
I had a line on the ladder that I’d been using to help pull the lowered ladder back up, because the leverage for doing that wasn’t very good. I replaced that line with a bungie cord. By experimenting a bit to get just the right length, I managed to get it where it would slow the ladder’s fall down without preventing it from coming all the way down.
I also tied some small blocks, one to each side at the point here the ladder connects to the transom, so that I could lead both of the pull lines over to one side of the ladder. That allowed pulling on them from beside the ladder rather than directly underneath the ladder.
These improvements probably raise the total installation costs from maybe $5 for Butch’s design to maybe $20 for mine.
There’s also the alternative that someone suggested at the time for solving the problem – “why don’t you just buy a swim platform?” (Back then, those only cost about $1650. Prices have gone up a bit since, unfortunately.)
I’m not knocking the swim platforms. They’re a great feature and I’d enjoy having one. But if you want something to hold you 'til that pops to the top of your purchasing budget list, Butch’s concept is worth considering.
– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233
Marina del Rey, California
I do like Bob’s improvements. I realized shortly after my original presentation, the ladder could hurt someone when coming down so I added a stop line with a snap shackle of sorts. My thinking was that it would fall short of hitting the person in the water but reachable to disconnect snap shackle for manually guiding the ladder down the rest of the way.
I am really glad this subject came up again. At the time and still now I am constantly aware of safety. Because of my own experience of sliding off a finger pier on a cold, blustery, November day without another person in sight I realized that I had no way to get back on my boat. As my warm clothes were filling with cold water, it was not possible to pull myself on deck. Thanks to a swim platform on a large power boat on the other side of the dock, I was able to swim to that vessel. My hands were so cold that I had climb up on that platform using my elbows.
I am not of the engineering type and when I came up with my design, I knew it would need some improvement and looks like Bob has made some positive steps for the rig. Maybe, there’s even room for more improvements. I do like bob’s thought of running the pull lines on each side of the ladder. I am going to make that change.
There are a lot of new Nonsuch owners and hopefully these writings will remind all to really give some thought to what “are you going to do if you go overboard, and you don’t have a swim platform or ladder rig of sorts similar to that being discussed?”.
Even if we are by ourselves on a warm summer’s day, it pays to give some attention to an exit plan if we end up in the drink. If you have never done it, get in the water with the ladder up, assuming you don’t have a swim platform, and see if you can get back on your boat. If you figure out a way to do it, try it again with a bunch of clothes on. I am sure there is some young pup out there that can pull themselves back on the boat but I am guessing the majority of us are not young pups any more. Hate to say it, but …….
Be safe.
Butch
Butch Garren
Nonsuch 30 #196 “Whiskers II”
SIYC Slip 12
Solomons, MD
I bought all the parts for this fix on Amazon for about $30.00. Thanks very much for this valuable information.
Dan Mills
sakina NS30U 460
West River, MD.
Dan: Try sending your email photos as attachments and maybe you won’t have that rejection problem. Don’t forget, we all have to deal with rejection sometime in our lives.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
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[/details]Dan,
There are two ways to attach images to discussions on the web version (if you’re using email to participate in the discussion, it’s different).
You put a picture in-line by clicking on the icon that looks like a little square with mountains inside, three buttons to the right of where it says “Post message”. Google seems to get whiny if the total size of those gets much over a few Meg.
If you have larger stuff, you can attach it with the paper clip icon two buttons to the right of “Post message”. Attachments just show up as a little thumbnail, and readers can’t see them unless they click on the thumbnail to download it. Google gets whiny when those get much over 10 meg.
If what you have is even larger than that, you have to put it somewhere else and give people a link to it.
For example, here is a Google drive link to an 18 meg video of my ladder dropping without a bungy cord to slow it: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JOyKIRdpvBvvvqq8E4NNOX4qm5Sf_8tX/view?usp=sharing
And here’s another 18 meg one of my ladder dropping with a bungy cord to reduce the speed: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Py_adRHNpRL30mm7olOsLeNU7iIS8xt0/view?usp=sharing
– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233
Marina del Rey, California
If you have davits and a dingy hanging there you cannot release the ladder without first lowering the dinghy unless you have the ladder already released and pulled up under the dingy. I made a stainless rod with a hook at both ends, one end hooks over the lower pushpit rail and the other end hooks under the second step of the ladder. A person in the water can reach up and nudge the ladder releasing the open hook on the ladder rung and the ladder will drop down. In my setup there is enough room for a person to climb up between the dingy and the transom. To lower the dingy you first unhook the rod from the rail and drop the ladder then climb down the ladder into the dingy. I have a laniard tied to the upper hook so the rod can’t drop onto the water.
I imitated Butch’s scheme after he posted about it a few years ago, and think it’s a very good idea.
I made what I humbly regard as two small improvements to his design, because I was concerned that the ladder would come down really fast and bonk me on the head.
I had a line on the ladder that I’d been using to help pull the lowered ladder back up, because the leverage for doing that wasn’t very good. I replaced that line with a bungie cord. By experimenting a bit to get just the right length, I managed to get it where it would slow the ladder’s fall down without preventing it from coming all the way down.
I also tied some small blocks, one to each side at the point here the ladder connects to the transom, so that I could lead both of the pull lines over to one side of the ladder. That allowed pulling on them from beside the ladder rather than directly underneath the ladder.
These improvements probably raise the total installation costs from maybe $5 for Butch’s design to maybe $20 for mine.
There’s also the alternative that someone suggested at the time for solving the problem – “why don’t you just buy a swim platform?” (Back then, those only cost about $1650. Prices have gone up a bit since, unfortunately.)
I’m not knocking the swim platforms. They’re a great feature and I’d enjoy having one. But if you want something to hold you 'til that pops to the top of your purchasing budget list, Butch’s concept is worth considering.
– Bob
Me Gusta
Nonsuch e26U #233
Marina del Rey, California
