Ladder release

[Bolo]

Been doing a bit of thinking on how I would deploy the stern swim ladder by myself if I survived a fall into the water (while were my lfe jacket of course) while soloing. My E32-III has the usual Ericson setup with the Ball-Lok Quick-Release Pins and latches that need to be swung open to allow the ladder to be folded down.

I've looked for info on this site to see if anyone has come up with a modification to allow release of the ladder from the water but found nothing and maybe that's because there isn't any easy way to do it. Now I realize that I would be hoping that the boat would round up after I fell off (assuming that the auto helm wasn't engaged), I would not be hurt or some other variable that would keep me from even reraching the boat. But....what if I fell off at anchor or even at the dock, assuming there wasn't a dock ladder around.

So if you've solved this problems or have any ideas I'd love to read about it.

 

[Glyn Judson]

Deploying ladder from the water.

Bob, I'm not sure my method will work for your ladder/gate configuration but here's what I've done to make it possible to get back aboard our boat from the water using my stowed 70" Mystic Stainless folding ladder http://www.mysticstainless.com/. It's in the starboard gate of our boat but the same could possibly apply to your stern ladder. I use an 18" length of adhesive-backed hook & loop stuck together to form a length great enough to go around the top (bottom when deployed) rung of the ladder and the gate cable. I've slitted one end of the hook & loop through which I've tied a light line. The line is sufficiently long enough to ride down into the water with the ladder and not stop it short of full deployment. The other end of the line is attached to the adjacent gate stanchion with the excess coiled and sitting just inboard of the toe rail. Both my wife and I can easily reach the coiled line from the water and with a light tug, detach the hook & loop thereby freeing the ladder to deploy. I can send you photos of the stowed and deployed ladder if you wish. Please email me back channel at glynjudson@roadrunner.com for them. Glad to share, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[u079721]

What I did the one season that I singlehanded was to open the ball gates that normally hold the ladder in place and fix them open with zip ties. I then used Velcro loops (the kind sold to wrap computer cords) around the top of the ladder on each side, with a line from the bottom rung (which is at the top when stored) down to the water line, with a loop at the end. If you put your hand in the loop and tugged hard you could rip open the Velcro loops, and the ladder would come down. You have to play with this to get just the minimum amount of Velcro wrap to hold the ladder up while sailing, but still be able to rip it down when you need to. Fortunately it doesn't take much to hold the latter up, so it's still easy to rip away when you need it.

 

[mherrcat]

There is a letter in the current issue of Latitude 38 about people falling off of docks and off of boats, with an interesting response from the editor:

"Many years ago, we had a discussion with Larry Pardey about crew going overboard. He said, 'We tell all our guests to make sure they hang on, because if they go overboard, they should assume they will die shortly.' And he was talking about people who go overboard off crewed boats. One can only wonder what hopes he might have for a singlehander who goes overboard."