Swim Grid - Reboarding Ladder

C

cgypsy

New member
I am new to the forum and so far do not have a boat. But, the question I will be asking when looking for one is "How do I get back on board the boat if I fall off?"

How can I install a swim grid or re-boarding ladder?

I know many people carry a ladder that they put over the side of the boat to get on and off - BUT - What if I fell off and ladder wasn't hanging over the edge?

I would like a swim grid/ladder that would make getting in and out of the boat into the water or kayak EASY.

Any suggestions? Has anyone added one to their 22' cruiser?
 
Our boat has the standard bolt-on step and this unit is the same on a 22 model as well. It was simple to install after I took off the kicker engine. Ours came with the boat and was removed by a previous owner and is simply held on with four bolts. The factory should be able to sell you one and the small attached ladder folds up under the step when in motion. It is very quick and easy to deploy from the water and climb out. I had to do it last year when I went for an unplanned birthday swim.

Greg


before:

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between:

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after:

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Aurelia":2ani4rka said:
Our boat has the standard bolt-on step and this unit is the same on a 22 model as well. It was simple to install after I took off the kicker engine.
Click to expand...

Greg

That looks like exactly what I need, but why did you take the kicker off? Could the step have gone on the other side of the main motor?

Is it possible to have a motor, a kicker, and swim step on a 22' cruiser?

I would still need to have a kicker or twin motors?
 
We added the factory swim step and a ladder on the port side of our 22 Cruiser, and moved the 9.9 kicker to starboard. Worked fine.
 
The kicker was too big for our needs so I took it off and placed the swim step there. We added a small mounting bracket and Torqeedo electric outboard for our non-fishing kicking purposes to the other side of the motor. The swim step could go on either side but the original holes were already there (4200 filled) so I re-used them instead of drilling new ones. We didn't care which side it was on. Kicker, motor, step combos are common and you just have to work out the mounting and spacing for your particular main and kicker motor dimensions.

For info on our alternative kicker, go to this thread:

http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t= ... highlight=

Greg
 
Island Explorer":is9gsfs0 said:
Aurelia":is9gsfs0 said:
Our boat has the standard bolt-on step and this unit is the same on a 22 model as well. It was simple to install after I took off the kicker engine.
Click to expand...

Greg

That looks like exactly what I need, but why did you take the kicker off? Could the step have gone on the other side of the main motor?

Is it possible to have a motor, a kicker, and swim step on a 22' cruiser?

I would still need to have a kicker or twin motors?
Click to expand...
It's pretty standard on CD-22's to have a main, kicker and swims step. That's how ours was set up when we bought new from the factory in 2005. It works great. Some people prefer that the kicker is mounted on the starboard side of the transom unlike ours which is mounted port, mainly due to the additional swing room for the tiller on the kicker. But that hasn't been a problem for us as we use a tie bar 99% of the time, allowing steering from the helm. Even so, we've used the kicker steering with the tiller for a 10 mile (at least), trip from Bellingham Bay to Twin Bridges.

DSCF1419.sized.jpg
Dave S. installed a swim step on his boat Sea Shift which has twins so it can definitely be done.

Img0498.sized.jpg
 
Those are good suggestions. I never thought about which side the kicker was on, but you are right about having better access to the tiller.
 
Island Explorer":qzql4r48 said:
Those are good suggestions. I never thought about which side the kicker was on, but you are right about having better access to the tiller.
Click to expand...
The reasoning by the factory to install the kicker on the port side of C-Dancer was to off-set the weight of the batteries which are installed in the starboard lazerette.
 
Aurelia,

I have an off-topic question for you. In one of your photos above it looks like you may have a VersaTube (or similar) 3-sided metal boat house to which you've attached a sort of "tarp curtain" to close (or semi-close) the front opening.

Am I right, or am I reading something into the photo that's isn't there? I ask because I have just such a boat house, and I am considering ways to give more protection for the open 4th wall.
 
This summer during swimming season on Lake Washington or Union we intend to have all the family practice boarding from the water using swimming platform and ladder.
 
We use a Garelick brand ladder. It's stored in the cockpit most of the time and the BBQ mounts to it. When anchored we pop the BBQ off and put the ladder to the overboard position. Helps with dinghy entry as well as swimmer recovery. We elected to not have a swim grid as a camperback was planned as well as our indispensable splash well table. Our transom just has a single o/b on it. Batteries on hull inside between fuel tanks. Good luck on the search. George
 
Jazzmanic":ys38j7ua said:
It's pretty standard on CD-22's to have a main, kicker and swims step. That's how ours was set up when we bought new from the factory in 2005. It works great. Some people prefer that the kicker is mounted on the starboard side of the transom unlike ours which is mounted port, mainly due to the additional swing room for the tiller on the kicker.
Click to expand...

Yea, there are so many details. I think I would want the swim step on the right hand side along with an additional grab bar mounted to the transom. That way, I would have something to grab onto when I climbed up. (as we get older this stuff becomes more important). Because I am right handed it would seem easier to have that handle on the right side of the swim step.

Obviously I can see there are lot of choices and I will have to decide what seems right for the boat I get. I've only seen a couple of C-Dory's up close and neither had a swim step.

I am surprised that they don't seem to get in the way of the motor turning. To me it just seemed like it would crowded back there.
 
The main motor doesn't turn quite as far as it looks like it would. Crowded yes, problem no. Add in a permatrim, trim tabs, transducers and it gets even more interesting.

Greg
 
Unrelated, but Greg sort of brought it up. You will get the best performance with both trim tabs and a Permatrim foil on the outboard motor. These get the bow down when going into chop, and markedly decrease pounding when going into a chop. It also gives better control down wind/wave, and with lateral trim.
 
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