Boarding Steps

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by Sondor

Doesn't the 63' MY have a boom crane?

Crane+Bosuns chair+4 year old

...just thinking outloud

[chrisjs]

GG: The pontoon ladder almost certainly will not fit on a dock. Most docks (in my experience) are relatively narrow. Long and narrow, not wide. Your ladder needs to be quite steep in order to fit on the width of the dock while still allowing plenty of room for you to get on and off the ladder. European passerelles avoid this problem by bridging from the boat stern onto a harbor dock wall. You will almost certainly end up on narrow docks here in the US, perhaps with hardly any room at all for a ladder at right angles to the side of the boat. At least it would need to be quite steep. This is why the fixed dock stairs I referred to previous have a platform at boat level and stairs that run along the dock, not across it. Plus, marinas will not feel kindly if you block a dock with a ladder. On the other hand, if you have a pontoon boat on a beach you have unlimited space for the ladder. Also, many docks in the US require tie ups between pilings and only allow a very small area for disembarking. So, think geometry when you pick a ladder.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by chrisjs

GG: The pontoon ladder almost certainly will not fit on a dock. Most docks (in my experience) are relatively narrow. Long and narrow, not wide. Your ladder needs to be quite steep in order to fit on the width of the dock while still allowing plenty of room for you to get on and off the ladder. European passerelles avoid this problem by bridging from the boat stern onto a harbor dock wall. You will almost certainly end up on narrow docks here in the US, perhaps with hardly any room at all for a ladder at right angles to the side of the boat. At least it would need to be quite steep. This is why the fixed dock stairs I referred to previous have a platform at boat level and stairs that run along the dock, not across it. Plus, marinas will not feel kindly if you block a dock with a ladder. On the other hand, if you have a pontoon boat on a beach you have unlimited space for the ladder. Also, many docks in the US require tie ups between pilings and only allow a very small area for disembarking. So, think geometry when you pick a ladder.

Yeah, your probably right, now that I look again. Sometimes its hard to get a good visual from net pics.

[Aussiesuede]

Originally Posted by chrisjs

GG: The pontoon ladder almost certainly will not fit on a dock.

If utilised with a foldable swim platform similar to this:



Then the ladder can be run parrallel to the boat similar to this:




The top step of the ladder rests on the swim platform (secured for safety of course)

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by Aussiesuede

If utilised with a foldable swim platform similar to this:



Then the ladder can be run parrallel to the boat similar to this:




The top step of the ladder rests on the swim platform (secured for safety of course)

That's very clever!

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by GalaxyGirl

This isn't exactly what I wanted, but it is better than what is there now. But, I can't figure out how it attaches and what happens as the boat moves at the dock with the tide and sway? Can anyone enlighten me?

JIF Marine ASH 5-Step Angled Dock Ladder

Maybe a photo of the boarding opening with stanchion fittings and hand rail design will help.

I have seen folded stainless boarding ladders that are hinged on deck and fold out to suspend above the dock at a comfortable angle.

When folded away it makes the security gate.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by chrisjs

SNIP

BTW how do you plan to get the family off the boat and into a dinghy or liferaft, or heaven forbid retrieve somebody from overboard, with such a high freeboard? I am not being facetious, these are real questions?

By the by how do you plan to get the family and yourself into the dinghy if one of you falls out, or if you go diving and need to get back in. This is a real question as well.

[Stu Jackson]

Outside the box: couldn't the older kids "handle" the youngest one? This is a pretty hefty "investment" for something that only might be needed for the next few months. In my opinion, many times, especially with "new to us boats," sometimes a solution is chasing the problem, sometimes it's the other way around. Often, we counsel new boaters to simply wait before they make what they think are "necessary" changes. Just sharing "boaty" ideas for this new boater.

[hellosailor]

Tom-
I suspect "can only be used once" refers to the deployment being a one-shot mechanism, or the risk of heat damage. A rope ladder is a rope ladder, no doubt the warranty is also void if it is used on anything except a burning house.

[rw58ph]

The 5 marines we have permanently moored requirement was enough room for a dock cart to get by. Each of the marinas I build custom steps to match the dock and boat. In the winter time we have always got on/off the boat through the pilot house as the stern in the winter time is too dangerous. Since our bumper are 12” wide the ladders hung out over the dock by 6 to 8” which took up 10 to 12” of the dock.

The steps I made of wood was sub assembles (platform, stairs, legs, and had rails) that could be unbolted and disassembled in about 15 minutes that was stored along the pilot house and the Portuguese bridge when under way. When you get to your permanent moorage might want to have something fabricated/made specifically to the boat and dock. As for the distance between the boat and the dock, if you have a big round fender, yours is 30” at the bow and small, 12” at the stern the boat is at an angle thus reducing the distance. Our swim step hangs over the dock with the boat at an angle.

I thought I had over stated/stress the importance getting on/off the boat especially for a live aboard in the colder/wet climates? So what ever you get, make sure it save at our permanent moorage.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by tomfl

By the by how do you plan to get the family and yourself into the dinghy if one of you falls out, or if you go diving and need to get back in. This is a real question as well.

There is a ladder from the aft deck down to a swim platform.

[GalaxyGirl]

Originally Posted by rw58ph

The 5 marines we have permanently moored requirement was enough room for a dock cart to get by. Each of the marinas I build custom steps to match the dock and boat. In the winter time we have always got on/off the boat through the pilot house as the stern in the winter time is too dangerous. Since our bumper are 12” wide the ladders hung out over the dock by 6 to 8” which took up 10 to 12” of the dock.

The steps I made of wood was sub assembles (platform, stairs, legs, and had rails) that could be unbolted and disassembled in about 15 minutes that was stored along the pilot house and the Portuguese bridge when under way. When you get to your permanent moorage might want to have something fabricated/made specifically to the boat and dock. As for the distance between the boat and the dock, if you have a big round fender, yours is 30” at the bow and small, 12” at the stern the boat is at an angle thus reducing the distance. Our swim step hangs over the dock with the boat at an angle.

I thought I had over stated/stress the importance getting on/off the boat especially for a live aboard in the colder/wet climates? So what ever you get, make sure it save at our permanent moorage.

Yeah, that's very practical. A homemade set might the best solution for now.
Once I get home I can have my carpenter build me something for the dock. Until then, maybe Stu is right. Wait and see if I really need it.

[ranger58sb]

West Marine and Defender sell molded plastic or fiberglass dock stairs. Their dimensions may or may not suit perfectly, but they don't cost an arm and a leg... and you can take them onboard for traveling.

We carried one onboard, to give our big dogs easier steps up to the coaming from within the cockpit... but they mostly treated the steps as obstacles, and usually jumped straight to the coaming and then off to the pier.

-Chris

[sparrowhawk1]

I would think if you have a swim platform that would be the easiest way to board and maybe even make a plank that goes from it to the dock

[captain ray]

Thought I had been keeping track of " the adventures of GG", but must have been asleep when she said what was finally purchased. GG please let me know as my wife and I have been following your progress for some time. Have good luck and fair winds.----Captain Ray