Bamboo Swim Ladder

[salticrak]

Hey folks I am presently building a wharram tiki 26 cat and have to build a swim ladder and was wondering if anybody had used bamboo as an alternative to other materials? I built al ladder out of hardwood but found it too heavy and I need to shed weight on the ass of the boat anyway.Any tips would be aprreciated.
cheers paul.

[Cheechako]

sounds cool if you have access to large diameter bamboo. anything under 2" will be hard on the feet I think. Also.... it's slippery!

[mangomuffins]

Hey Paul,
In theory...sounds like this is worth looking at.
Bamboo is amazing stuff. I would think that sealing it would be the trick... ingress of saltwater would definitely split the wood. It would also have that tropical look that would compliment the Wharram.

mm

[salticrak]

mm I intend to coat the bamboo in epoxy and then varnish for u.v protection,I agree this ladder could look real purty,the diameter of the bamboo is that of a scaffolding tube with about a 4mm wall thickness.where I harvested the bamboo from was a place that is rarely visited and there is a magnificent stand of the stuff of about 20m tall with a diameter of 6 to 8 inches a truly magnifecent sight.It looks like a giant wheat sheaf.

[FSMike]

Seems to me a swim ladder with positive flotation would be rather difficult to use.

[tropicalescape]

I made a bicycle and used bamboo!really strong..and I have bamboo around my rigging wire so to have something to grab on to, its been there for 15 yrs! no finish,just wrapped real tight with some sort of cord..The bamboo was put on in the bahamas,dont know if that bamboo is any different than yours but I have seen some that was ornament only and would not last long when cut..it is grass after all... ..good luck..DVC

[salticrak]

Originally Posted by FSMike

Seems to me a swim ladder with positive flotation would be rather difficult to use.

Mate,you are a legend I had not even thought of that.But luckily for me it will be on a pulley and cleat system,so should keep it down.
cheers Paul.

[SaucySailoress]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

sounds cool if you have access to large diameter bamboo. anything under 2" will be hard on the feet I think. Also.... it's slippery!

Could you not simply bind a few canes together to make a foot friendly platform?

Originally Posted by FSMike

Seems to me a swim ladder with positive flotation would be rather difficult to use.

Erm... ain't a natural material in the world that won't sink down under my weight.... and if it floats at water level, it won't be too hard to reach!

Originally Posted by tropicalescape

I made a bicycle and used bamboo!really strong..

Awesome, pics please!

[tropicalescape]

Originally Posted by SaucySailoress

Could you not simply bind a few canes together to make a foot friendly platform?


Erm... ain't a natural material in the world that won't sink down under my weight.... and if it floats at water level, it won't be too hard to reach!



Awesome, pics please!

a young lady "liberated" me of my bike a year ago ..it was my first attempt and not very good..when I reported it as missing the police wanted a photo also, I had none..If you google bamboo bike you can see different ones ,some for sale ..mine was not as nice as the ones from Vietnam..you can order plans and build your own,I should have ordered plans and mine would have been a little nicer than it was...If I have pictures how do I post them?..DVC

[rtbates]

Seal the ENDS or it won't last long

[salticrak]

This Ladder was made of Bamboo for Hauling up tenders,the builder sanded glued and fibreglassed the joints then varnished it.

[mangomuffins]

Originally Posted by salticrak

mm I intend to coat the bamboo in epoxy and then varnish for u.v protection,I agree this ladder could look real purty,the diameter of the bamboo is that of a scaffolding tube with about a 4mm wall thickness.where I harvested the bamboo from was a place that is rarely visited and there is a magnificent stand of the stuff of about 20m tall with a diameter of 6 to 8 inches a truly magnifecent sight.It looks like a giant wheat sheaf.

Hey salt,

you might find this link about curing bamboo helpful...

Bamboo Thoughts and Curing


cheers,

mm