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FITTING OUT APPUSKIDU

Boarding Step

It became clear when I got the Coaster that I could not easily get back on board if I went for a swim. I could only just get back on the Lugger by standing on the cavitation plate of the outboard but this didn’t work on Appuskidu. Either the geometry of the Coaster stern is just that bit different or advancing years were taking their toll – probably a bit of each. Anyhow, something had to be done since if went over the side either involuntarily or voluntarily I needed a way of getting back.

I eliminated purely rope based solutions. If the step was low enough to be useful to a person of my size and limited agility, it would disappear under the boat as soon as I put any weight on it. This meant that a rigid boarding ladder was needed.

Any boarding steps had to stow neatly on deck and be reachable from outside the boat. The best stowage place seemed to be against the inside of the bulwarks on the starboard side at the stern – between the main sheet horse and the transom. A prototype was thus made from 11mm ply which would fold flat and fit in the available space. It worked well but I thought that it might be better just a little longer so I added a small rope bridle to give a step which a couple of inches lower still. I could have made the ladder longer in the first place since there were a couple of inches of space left on deck if I used up every millimetre available. I then discovered that the original length was right. Using the rope extension I was too low to get my weight over the gunwale.

The hinges on one side are raised on 11mm blocks so that one side will fold over the other and the ladder folds flat against the bulwark. The height of the bulwark dictates that the ladder be wide enough for only one foot and not two side by side. In fact in order to re-board, not only is a step for a single foot sufficient but if it is in the right place only a single step for that foot is needed. This boarding aid has multiple steps and to use it you put your foot in the highest step that you can manage. The chrome plated brass hinges on the prototype need to be lubricated once each season to stop salt crystals seizing them. However, the final hinge solution is sturdy, pressed, 316 stainless steel backflap hinges with a bigger pin clearance so they should always remain free to open.

On my boat the steps are held in place by shock cord which loops over a lacing hook under the outside of the gunwale. Any catch reachable from outside the boat would do. In use it is released and then the ladder is hooked over the gunwale amidships where your own weight holds it in place long enough to board and recover it.

Here is a picture to prove that the steps stow just as easily on a Lugger. The optimum place to hook them over the gunwale when using them on a Lugger seems to be about half a metre aft of the Jib sheet fairleads and jammers.

The starboard side is a less cluttered stowage location. Here they are shown on the port side because that is where the sun was shining when I took the photograph.