SS transom swim ladder?

[Richincident]

I am looking to add a swim ladder to the rather wide transom of THE INCIDENT. She has two bronze steps which I am pretty sure any Navy Seal could climb. However I am NOT in that class, and have not been able to figure out how to use them.

The boats I have been racing on have nifty ladders that fold into an up position but are very easy to climb if you are in the water. I have a handy aluminum ladder with J hooks that works for me, but it terrifies my passengers. In the interim I am using a beat up Achilles 8 foot inflatable, but of course, that is NOT a permanent fix and doesn't travel with us at all times.

The boat has an SS railing across the transom now. The ones that appear most utile to me somehow fold up to become the center part of that railing. Anyone found a product that does this?

THANKS,

Richard

[Hirilondë]

The Foldaway is a beautiful ladder, but very expensive even by marine standards. Charlie at Mystic Stainless does a great job on this product.

[Chris Campbell]

Here's my favourite style of boarding ladder - they're solid, look fantastic, and store in a locker, leaving the boat looking clean. They also work well as dinghy docks, protecting the mothership's hull and providing a ladder to climb aboard with. They aren't all that cheap, however, and do require that you have space to stow them.

[Richincident]

WOW! Those are awesome ladders. I will need authorization from purchasing for either of them. Makes me think it could be time to walk around the sailboat graveyard in Quincy again.

LOVE them both but I want one that can hang over the transom and stay available if the captain does something foolish and needs to climb back on board.

[Hulukupu]

I have a boarding ladder made by the PO out of oak flooring. It (sorry no picture) looks similar to the Cruising Concepts design that Chris showed. You might be able to make something that would be a custom fit for your needs. Otherwise, I've seen telescoping Windline ladders mounted all sorts of different ingenious ways.
David

[Quetzalsailor]

I took West Marine's red Chinese stainless steel ladder and modified its mounting so that it would hang on the sailtrack at Quetzal's lifeline gate. Several lengths available, folds in half, robust, even though what quality the stainless is is open for question. Previous boat had a sugar scoop and a back porch so Eastern Marine's cheepie aluminum ladder was fine; it folded up against the pushpit.

I like the wood ladders like Chris cited. They'd be classy enough for Q and home buildable. Bulky to store, though.

It's quite important to have the lowest rung deep enough in the water, and the ladder rigid enough to stay in place. Dad made a wood-runged rope ladder which stored very nicely but which was perfectly awful to use; one's feet ended up under the boat. OK for an oil tanker, I guess.

[sscoll]

Looking at the nifty but expensive wood ladders posted here I'm reminded of one posted by Harry James in the Triton MIR pages that would easily lend itself to folding. Thanks for the suggestions, I've been hoping to come up with a design to build, that one will work for me.

[MikeD]

I was going to ask if you could post a pic or link, but I think I found it under Tritons Afloat #144. Are there any others?

[sscoll]

Yup, Harry had Ray post pictures on the "Ladder" entry in the Maintenance Improvements and Restoration (MIR) pages of the Triton site. You'll see pictures there sufficient to help you design and build your own. Just click on the MIR heading and scroll down to Ladder.