E35-2 Transom Ladder?

[Prairie Schooner]

Apparently the ladder is supposed to be accessible from the water even in the stowed position. It’s all too easy to envision Christian’s horrifying story happening if one were to fall in while solo. The freeboard is just too high to climb back aboard. I will likely remove the clips and use a very light Velcro strap or mini zip tie to hold the ladder in place along with a rope that you can reach from the water. A good tug should hopefully bring the ladder down. Of course now the ladder is at risk of opening by itself or by being pushed which then leaves a big gap in the stern rail that you can fall out of. At least the ladder will be accessible at that point!

Doug, I think your surveyor is absolutely right to say you should have a way to deploy a ladder from the water. I think he's quite wrong to suggest that the solution is to make the stern rail weaker. That's there to keep crew in the boat. Many (most?) boats don't even have a gate in the pushpit. If there were going to be a combo aft gate/ladder, I think Ericson did it right with the latches and pins. As folks said earlier, it would actually be dangerous if jerked down from the water. The other solutions are to have the gate and ladder separate or some sort of emergency rig like those pictured. Or, a swim platform, forsooth.

@Kyle62 Aesthetically I agree that the stern ladder clutters things up. But it's the only access we use when swimming and dinghying. We use the side gate when the marina launch takes us to the mooring ball. Every water taxi we've ridden has a nifty step built on and often a hand rail. For the aft ladder we do need to make or buy one of those extensions like @JP in Sandusky has. But for visual appeal we'd keep it below when not being used. We just use a (marginally effective) rope strap for now. We need to add treads too. Always sumpin ta do.

In addition to the thread that Christian linked here, he'd previously left a helpful list:
- https://ericsonyachts.org/ie/threads/transom-vs-gunwale-ladders.18523/post-142190

@Kenneth K - Just for reference, there is also this link to purchase the tube ladder from the UK. ~ $US 66. + shipping and tariffs(?)

Emergency boarding ladder

This is a simple potentially life-saving solution to help a crewmember get back on board without help. It's a compact 3-step rope ladder, which is stored inside a tube recessed into the hull of the boat - all that protrudes is a small handle that can be pulled to deploy the boarding ladder...

nuovaradeonline.co.uk

 

[bigd14]

The Ericson-installed stern ladders typically extend below water about 6" (+/-) when lowered. The bottom step swings a pretty wide arc on the way down. If you're in the water and trying to deploy it by pulling on a rope, there's a pretty high likelihood it's going to hit you in the head on the way down. That would not be a good outcome either.

I have tested this in the water and it’s not that bad at least for the 30+ model. The 34-2 version may be different but I haven’t tried to deploy it yet. There is resistance in the swing of the ladder so it doesn’t actually fall down. Also I attached the rope to the top (bottom when deployed) rung so as you pull you have to move out of the way to get leverage. It works.

I think he's quite wrong to suggest that the solution is to make the stern rail weaker.

That was my idea, and like many of them probably ill-advised. Best option is not to fall off the boat. I do plan on installing tether anchors and accommodations for jack lines someday.

 

[Kenneth K]

There is resistance in the swing of the ladder so it doesn’t actually fall down.

Yeah, that would be better! Mine swings down violently, without any resistance. So much so that I try to lower it down slowly, as I'm afraid it might crack the fiberglass if dropped unrestrained.

 

[Prairie Schooner]

Yeah, that would be better! Mine swings down violently, without any resistance. So much so that I try to lower it down slowly, as I'm afraid it might crack the fiberglass if dropped unrestrained.

Same!!

 

[bigd14]

Mine swings down violently, without any resistance.

Yeah that would be a problem.