# getting back on the boat.



## brokesailor (Jan 12, 2008)

Say you fall off the boat or you go for a swim without lowering your ladder first. How do you get back on the boat assuming no one else on board. I have seen a boat with a web step ladder in a pouch on the life line. Can't find on line anywhere though. Any ideas?


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## billsull (Jul 8, 2007)

Check out the Plastmo ladder. Landfall Nav sells it (and others):

http://www.landfallnavigation.com/sp29009.html


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

There is no substitute for a good "fixed" ladder (except maybe an open transom type boat). I've not found the rope ladders easy to climb. Whatever you use, make sure to "try it" at least once. When the water is cold, and boat is bouncing in waves (which is likely) when you "need" it, it'll be hard if not impossible to use. I mean ANYTHING is better than nothing, but your life (or your crews life) could depend on how "easy" it is to get back aboard in an emergency.

I believe I posted elsewhere, but it's the reason I don't run my stern lifeline through my ladder like SOME do... I use a VERY light bungee (to keep the ladder from dragging in the water). The thinking is (and I've tested this) if I am in the water, I can grab the ladder from the water, and yank it down, pulling the bungee off. I actually have a confirmed rescue while under way (with no motor) of an older couple who were trapped (in warm calm water) because they did not have the upper body strength to get out of the water using a rope ladder. They quickly both climbed out of the water on MY ladder, then we sailed around to their boat, and got them back.

I've used the rope ladders of all kinds and they seem to push so far under the boat that they're almost unusable without lots of upper body strength.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

> I've used the rope ladders of all kinds and they seem to push so far under the boat that they're almost unusable without lots of upper body strength.


... and add waves and motion to that and you're really in a pickle.

Figuring out some way to 'deploy' a ladder from the water makes a lot of sense. I suspect few boats are set up that way.


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## speciald (Mar 27, 2007)

I have a line on my stern ladder that can be reached from the water so the ladder can be deployed form the water.


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## JoeDiver (Feb 2, 2011)

I have a somewhat loose slipknot that ties my ladder up. The bitter end of the line is within reach if you're in the water. A simple tug and the ladder comes down.

I check this knot every time I go out, usually by pulling it and re-tying it.


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

I agree with what's been said about rigid and rope ladders. Last summer I bought a nice (expensive) Yates rock climbing/rescue rope ladder and mounted it permanently so that it could be deployed from the water.

My wife is a triathalete and I'm a rock climber and it was surprisingly hard to use! It tended to try and go under the boat and took an immense amount of strength and skill to use.

Not good enough I decided and thanks to the kindness of another sailnetter who mailed me his old boarding ladder I now have a shiny new stainless ladder that I'll be mounting soon.

For a decent compromise and a good "emergency ladder" I also have used this one before: It's rungs are rigid and it has PVC to keep them separated. It's still much harder to use than a true rigid ladder but it's not a bad compromise especially for $35. It also folds up into it's own small, rail-mounted bag that has a velcro bottom. You attach a line to the bottom, pull from the water and it deploys.

Gander Mountain® > Sea Dog Emergency Boarding Ladder 5-Step - Boating > Mooring & Dock > Dock Ladders :










I keep this one on my rail as a backup to my rigid ladder since you can NOT get back aboard my boat if the primary fails. Paranoid you say??? Well 2 summers ago 2 of the 3 rungs of my plastic rigid ladder (the kinds with the hoops that you place over the gunwale) broke while trying to board because the sun had weakened the plastic. One more rung and it would have broken in half. We were lucky to get aboard using it and I was very happy to have the spare on the rail that day!


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## Minnewaska (Feb 21, 2010)

I have done this and lived to tell about it, because it wasn't all that dangerous in my situation. Think I've posted it here before. Dove off the boat to swim over to see friends on the next mooring to see what they were doing for dinner. Quickly realized, I didn't put the ladder down and the engine was still running to charge batts. Dummy.

Wife was off snorkeling with the inflatable and came back to find me drinking beer on our friend's boat with our engine running. I hear her tell the story about twice a year.

I like the ladder with the slip knot idea. I've often thought that those climbing ropes we had in grade school would work in life or death. The two inch rope with a big knot every couple of feet. Still, it would have to be deployable


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

This may apply exclusively to boats with a walk-through transom, but it's important for those who have it. Note the line I attached to the latch mechanism which loops down to the water line. If I fall into the water I can pull on the line to release the latch. Once on the boat, it is used to pull the ladder up out of the water. I test this a few dozen times every winter while on the hard, since it's the easiest way to get the ladder down from ground level:








Curiously, most boats that I see with walk-though transoms _do not_ have something like this rigged.


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## FormerAdministrator (Jan 10, 2000)

Day Sailor when I was a kid who spent summers on the Bohemia River at Hacks Point on the Chesapeake Bay. We didn't have money for gas so we sailed.


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## rockDAWG (Sep 6, 2006)

brokesailor said:


> Say you fall off the boat or *you go for a swim without lowering your ladder first.*How do you get back on the boat assuming no one else on board. I have seen a boat with a web step ladder in a pouch on the life line. Can't find on line anywhere though. Any ideas?


It won't happen in Chesapeake Bay. I don't even allow my kids put their feet in the water. If in other places, I will get my Darwin award at last. 

True story:
In NYC, one young lady falls into water at mooring. Five guys jump into water to save her. No one can get back on board.  Only in New York.


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## brokesailor (Jan 12, 2008)

Anyone watch the Movie Open Water II? Everyone jumps in the water except for a baby on board. No one lowers the ladder first. One by one they all die. That's why my wife is all freaked out about the ladder thing.


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

brokesailor said:


> Anyone watch the Movie Open Water II? Everyone jumps in the water except for a baby on board. No one lowers the ladder first. One by one they all die. That's why my wife is all freaked out about the ladder thing.


Kinda cheesy movie, but it was haunting if only because it was easy to see it happening to anyone, really. The classic 'Oh Sh*t" moment...

In the end at least the mother and baby survived, didn't they?


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## Cruisingdad (Jul 21, 2006)

That is why all REAL yachts have a sugar scoop... snicker... Just kidding.

On our dink we hang a line over with a loop and it is a nightmare to get back in, but we do it. Kids seem more agile at it than me. 

I will say, in all honesty (not just Sailnet talk), when we go to a new marina, we scope out the ladders to get back up and point them out to the kids and make them familiar with them. There may not be a single marina they have ever been that they didn't "accidentally" fall into the water. Getting on a boat that is rolling in the seas is very, very tough. It is even tough from tender to transom.

Brian


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## CapnBilll (Sep 9, 2006)

A boat near me in the marina had a loop of rope threaded through a flexible pipe, and tied to a stantion, and left dangling near the water. You could grab it at water level, and pull up to grab toe rail, that would allow a foot in the loop. standing up in loop would bring upper body above deck.

I always leave a trailing line with a buoy if I plan on leaving the boat. 

Open water 2 would not happen, because I also have a rule 1 adult stays on boat if not at a dock.

I also do lots of chin-ups.


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## msmith10 (Feb 28, 2009)

I hold my ladder up in its folded position with a light bungie. I also leave a 1/2" line attached to the ladder. If I need to get onboard and the ladder isn't down, it's not hard to overwhelm the bungie and bring the ladder down.


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## MedSailor (Mar 30, 2008)

Of all the quick deployment methods for securing you ladder I prefer velcro. Anyone can re-secure it and you don't have someone "re-tie" your slip knot one day without you noticing. Even 2" velcro can easily be un-done with a tug from a line that dangles from it, yet it can be extremely secure.

West marine sells velcro rope hangers and cable/hose organizers that are secured to the boat, yet have a velcro strap for your cable (or ladder). Attach a line to the tail of the velcro cable organizer and have dangle down to the water and you're in business.

Hook and Loop Fastener , Cable Ties, Computer Cable Organizers, Rubber Grommet, Velcro Cable Ties, Wire Wrap









MedSailor


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## travlin-easy (Dec 24, 2010)

My ladder is held in place with a couple, blue rubber bands that came on asparagus bundles. There's a length of 1/4-inch nylon rope attached with a loop on the end that hangs about an inch above the water. Just grab the loop, pull, the rubber bands break and the ladder is down.

I read Chris' post and chuckled. At 71 years of age, with a toe-rail situated about 6-feet above the water line, and inboard of the rub rail, it would be a cold day in Hell when this old man could launch himself his entire body length out of the water to the toe-rail, pull himself up, twist, and swap hands. Maybe if I were 17-years-old, was on a college scholarship for gymnastics and there was a good looking babe in a string bikini staring down at me from the main deck--but NOW--not a prayer.  Getting out of the water WITH a rigid ladder is difficult enough. 

Cheers,

Gary


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

travlineasy said:


> ...I read Chris' post and chuckled. At 71 years of age, with a toe-rail situated about 6-feet above the water line, and inboard of the rub rail, it would be a cold day in Hell when this old man could launch himself his entire body length out of the water to the toe-rail, pull himself up, twist, and swap hands. Maybe if I were 17-years-old, was on a college scholarship for gymnastics and there was a good looking babe in a string bikini staring down at me from the main deck--but NOW--not a prayer.  Getting out of the water WITH a rigid ladder is difficult enough.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Gary


...and if you've had offspring, you can't qualify for the Darwin Award, so you're screwed either way! :laugher


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## chrisncate (Jan 29, 2010)

In an emergency I can climb up my windvane if need be.


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## brokesailor (Jan 12, 2008)

Faster: Actually I think at the end the woman is actually a spirit. But that's another subject.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

I am heartened to hear I am not the only one whose lived the whole rope ladder experience. I am also glad to hear I am not the only one whose tried their quick release to make sure it's possible to pull down from the water.


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## glassdad (Feb 21, 2009)

I have our stern ladder attached with a piece of velcro. The velcro has a small line attached to it that when pulled, will release the velcro and pull the ladder down. It works. Two months ago, after an afternoon on the kayak, I fell in the water getting out of the kayak. I swam over to the stern, pulled on the rope and down came the ladder. After five miles on the kayak, my arms were tired. I don't think I could have pulled myself up a rope ladder. 

It is nice to know the ststem works.


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## latitudes (Jul 27, 2010)

Davits! with cerebral palsy, the 5 ft climb is near impossible. put a sling on the davit and winch me up, even works with scuba gear on.


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## NCC320 (Dec 23, 2008)

RhythmDoctor said:


> This may apply exclusively to boats with a walk-through transom, but it's important for those who have it. Note the line I attached to the latch mechanism which loops down to the water line. If I fall into the water I can pull on the line to release the latch. Once on the boat, it is used to pull the ladder up out of the water. I test this a few dozen times every winter while on the hard, since it's the easiest way to get the ladder down from ground level:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I like your system. However, on larger boats, Catalinas in particular, there are two latches holding the ladder in place. Additionally, the ladders are typically larger and heavier. You don't want one of these to come crashing down on the boat, or more importantly, the person in the water. This past week end, I worked out/installed a similar, but a little more complicated system for my C320.

The functions that need to be performed from the water are:

1) Release the two securing latches at the top (same design as in your photo, except one on either side).
2) Pull the ladder towards the water to start its movement (the larger Catalina ladders have a "L" shape and will not free fall on their own).
3) Have a means to control the rate of fall so that it does not damage boat or hit person in the water.

I will use your photo to describe what I did.

1) On the swing up latch on either side, I tied a 3/16" nylon line through the latch loop and secured it to the latch with a small stainless steel hose clamp so the line cannot slip out of place. On each stanchion with the latches, at the bottom of the stanchion, I installed a bulls eye line fairlead guide (CS Johnson Marine). The line from the port ladder latch goes down through the bulls eye guide over to the starboard guide, down towards the water then back up through the guide up to the starboard latch. Where the line crosses over from one side to the other side, I placed a "sister hook" so that the line can be opened to allow use of ladder from top side. On the loop that was formed below the starboard guide, place a ring or, in my case a bulls eye guide with sharp edges on mounting side removed. To this bulls eye, there is a line down to the water. Pull this line, and both latches will be opened.

2) At the bottom of the ladder (top when ladder is in up position), tie another 3/16" line that goes down to the waters edge and back up to the fixed push pit rail on starboard side (the one with the latch), a turn around the middle cross member of the push pit (not on the photo above), across and tied to the ladder bottom (top when ladder is up). i.e. a continuous loop. Where this line crosses over from push pit rail, place another sister hook so that line can be detached from ladder use from top side. A pull on the bottom of the loop from the water will start movement of the ladder towards the water.

3) To control the rate at which the ladder moves toward the water, tie a third line to the bottom of the loop in 2) above. The person in the water can hold this line and gradually feed it so that ladder desends at a controlled rate. The wrap around the fixed stanchion/push pit rail will help snub the line to reduce the force needed to slow the ladder movement. All of the movements of the ladder should be done from one side to avoid being hit if things get out of control. Additonally, this last piece of line might be long enough so that in normal operation of the boat, it could conceiveably get into the prop...therefore a floating polypropylene line might be considered here, but take care because this fiber degrades quickly in sunlight. Also, a plan to keep the line out of the water until needed.

Finally, the best option is to stay on the boat in the first place. If you fall into the water with any wind at all, the boat is likely to drift away from person in the water, or depending on boat (auto pilot, wind vane, balanced sails), it may just sail away leaving you in the water.


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