DaySailer.org Forum

Last year I bought one of those plastic step/aluminum tube things they call ladders. Remembering how much I used to hate these things I tried to make this one as solid as I could. So, I screwed in two 90 degree deck plates for 1" tubing. Now the DS is so shallow that the only place the ladder could go so that it's legs hit the hull was at the shrouds. But it was wobbly and acted as a parallelogram, and I couldn't easily get the ladder into the deck plates or out of 'em. Well, I thought 'here's another candidate for the dumpster'.

So I designed my own and based it on the old folding wooden ladders. As usual it's a prototype with cheap wood and cheap finish. But after a season of trials it works perfectly, it's strong and comfortable. I use it to get on the boat when I'm at the ramp as well as swimming, and if I should make an unplanned dismount (as we say in mountainbiking). One reason it's so stable is because it's attached to the boat with galvanized "L" brackets through bolted with fender washers, and it doesn't budge.

The only negative I know is that it is an unsightly isore hanging off the stern of such a small boat. So, maybe I'll make it demountable...maybe pintles and gudgeon.

jdoorly wrote:The only negative I know is that it is an unsightly eyesore hanging off the stern of such a small boat. So, maybe I'll make it demountable...maybe pintles and gudgeons.

@jdoorly: this is a very nice and sturdy design, but having so much weight hanging off the end of the DS really acts like putting on the handbrake.

When you're fully kitted out, how deep does your transom hang into the water? Mine's already immersed more than I'd like, and I'm doing everything I can to eliminate weight at the extreme end of the boat. (Like switching to a rudder that floats rather than sinks

I'm blessed (cursed) with a sailing area that tends towards lighter winds, so I'm a bit sensitive on things that would slow down the boat, even for cruising purposes...

The Desperado testbed...

As always, a couple questions please... hard to tell proportions, and easier to ask than guess. 2x4's or 2x6's for the sides?
The diagonal on the lower step section almost looks like a grain change in the wood, was that a seperate piece glued in rather than cutting the lower step section at an angle?

And lastly, (having nothing to do with the ladder... is that white port on the transom (starboard upper corner) a bilge pump outlet?
I've been thinking about one of those too since I've got the access panels cut in the back now.

Looks great! Thanks!

Greenlake: It's hard to judge where the actual water lines up on the boat, either I'm off the boat looking at the waterline from an adjacent dock, or I'm leaning over the transom to see, and these are both wrong! I've single handed every outing this year so I haven't had a 'reality check" yet. I'm guessing my aft WL is drowning by 1 inch. The ladder is cedar and much lighter than it looks, probably 2.5 pounds.

Scott: The uprights are 3/4x3.5x18" each (4 total) the treads are 3/4x3x12" (4 total). This version of the proto the treads were supposed to be 9.25 top to top but obviously I screwed up on one or both of the middle ones.

I screwed in wedges to the lower unit to make it more comfortable. I'll extend and angle the lower uprights when I make the final unit, as well as re-angle the treads to level.

Yeh, that's where to boat pees bilgwater. The pump's in front of the centerboard trunk and , I don't know why but, the instructions said to run the output uphill so I did, seems to work very well. I didn't install an auto switch cause I want to control battery usage.

I think most bilge pumps are designed to pump "uphill", so that the exit (above the water line) is higher than the entry (below the WL)? That way nothing can "back up into the system"?

Mine's just a simple Atwood model that I can plug into the power center and put anywhere inside the boat where there's water that I want to be outside of the boat: transom drain, down in the bilge, etc. The hose is long enough where I just throw it over the gunwhale and fuggeddaboudit!

I think some of the pumps rely on the "siphon effect", too, where once the flow gets going, it's actually easier to pump "up"? Could be wayyyy off on this one ... ?

The waterlevel in a true bilge would normally be below the waterlevel outside. Otherwise, the only thing keeping your boat afloat would be the displacement of the hull materials.

The presence of sealed flotation can alter that picture somewhat and of course, a cockpit with separate bottom can easily have not only water levels that that are higher than the outside, but even the bottom could be above the outside levels.

Siphons can only be used to drain from a higher water level to a lower one, even though their mid-point is higher than either one. For a normal bilge, a siphon would fill it, so people put special valves into the tubing to interrupt the siphon effect.

Manual bilge pumps would have one-way valves, but many electric ones do not. When you turn them off, whatever water remains in the tubes would flow back down.

jdoorly wrote:Greenlake: It's hard to judge where the actual water lines up on the boat, either I'm off the boat looking at the waterline from an adjacent dock, or I'm leaning over the transom to see, and these are both wrong! I've single handed every outing this year so I haven't had a 'reality check" yet. I'm guessing my aft WL is drowning by 1 inch. The ladder is cedar and much lighter than it looks, probably 2.5 pounds.

I couldn't believe it myself at first, so I looked through my old photos.



On the class-regulation rudder, the pivot screw already is something like 1" above the bottom of the hull.