bow ladder extension

[cardinaljacket]

I own a 2007 Sundeck 240 and was wondering if anyone has bought or fashioned an extension for the ladder in the bow. My kids like to jump off the bow but cannot climb up the ladder from the water. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[Lazy Daze]

No, as you may know, the bow ladder was never designed for water re-entry. It was designed solely for boarding when the boat is beached.

A simple way to extend the ladder is with some rope tied-off to the bottom rung, but first you slide a 12" -16" length of 2" PVC pipe over the rope before tieing off both ends of the rope at the ladder. Now, this will "swing" out from under them a bit (towards the boat) when they first step on it, but it's not too bad - the more adept someone is (and able to keep their body more vertically aligned with the ladder), the easier it is. To keep the pipe "centered", you can drill a hole the size of the rope into end caps and then tie a knot on the outer side of each cap. If you wanted to be fancy, you could tie the knot on the inside.

 

[cardinaljacket]

Thanks for the suggestion! I understand the original intent of the bow ladder for beaching, but I never beach my Sundeck and the only time we attempt to use it is when swimming. I was wondering if anyone ever tried a prefabricated rope ladder or this device: http://www.clrmarine.com/466.html
I'm especially interested in this later ladder, but I'm not sure it would work on the bow ladder.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I had one of those about 25 years ago. It works fine. The only reason I didn't suggest it is that it really doesn't get you much compared to making your own. It's sturdier "left to right", but it still swings in towards the boat. Whether or not it will fit over the bow ladder's shape... don't know. But you can always cut it to fit.

 

[cardinaljacket]

Thanks for the info. The ladder extension is also about $70 which seems pricey for what you get. I will probably take you advice and try making my own. Thanks for sharing your experience.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I agree.

I'm sure you figured this out already, but you can obviously make the rope/pvc ladder into a 2 or 3-step extension with more rope and additional pvc pipes. Just make the sure that whatever pvc pipe width you select is just short enough to easily stow in the anchor locker - that way you can leave it tied on when you stow the ladder... although it might be a little cumbersome to deal with that, knowing how the ladder flip/folds for storage. Maybe not - experiment. Or maybe use some large snap hooks.