Here is one of those small but important cruising details, a side boarding ladder. We are on Mk IV on Wind Horse, so this one should be perfect from the start.
There are a couple of key design issues which need to be addressed:
The ladder as to be light enough and compact enough to be easily handled and stored in the forepeak or dinghy.
Its height needs to vary depending on the dock against which you are lying (in our case, you can raise or lower the ladder depending on the height of the boarding gate rails over which it is hooked.
The angle may need to be adjusted depending on the docking situation.
The short leg at the bottom of the photo is a pipe within a pipe and easily adjusted for length (and hence ladder angle).
Posted by Steve Dashew (February 18, 2010)
March 19th, 2010 at 9:15 am
It certainly is a robust design. I have some problems with the bow gear. I wish the anchor bracket was less dominant and more aesthetically integrated into the hull, also the searchlight and U pole is nice, but isn’t there some less conspicuous way of accomplishing the same thing so that it is not sitting in the view of that nice broad windowed cabin house?
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Steve Dashew Reply:
March 19th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Hi Rick:
The bow “mast” actually does not block the sight lines from inside the house. They go through it to the water close in to the bow. There are lots of ways to design the anchoring system, but you have to allow for two large chain rollers, a firm locking of the anchor under way, and handle the breaking strain (not working load) of the chain. When you get done taking these items into account, you get what we have. I should add that we like the aesthetic. But that is a personal thing and function has to come first with anchoring gear.
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