I got to spend today working on the boat. The ladders were the task for the day and they are now hanging on the boat. I had machined the basic brackets and blocks during the week and had taken them to the local welder to have them tacked together.
The venture had an eye bolt (actually a U-bolt) on each side of the transom and had an Armstrong ladder on the port side. I tried to design the brackets so they'd use the existing holes, although I knew I'd be drilling more. The welder I use builds a lot of race cars and was appalled at my brackets. He wanted to know if I was planning to use them for towing a barge. Yeah, so they are a little overbuilt, but the proportion looks right on the boat and they only weigh about 5 pounds per bracket. So, Here's one of the overbuilt brackets tacked together:
Next I drilled 'em and mounted them on the boat, so they hung down like this:
Then I fell victim to the fact that when the drilled for the u bolts, one side was 1/2 inch higher than the other. I, of course, had already drilled the mounting plates the same for both sides. The inside bracket is longer than the outer bracket so the ladders are pitched away from the engines.
So, in place, they look like this:
And when flipped up in the running position, they look like this:
The last task was to make a plastic stop block that fits in the notch at the bottom of the bracket. It gives the ladder a place to rest against and reduces the load on the pivot bolt. I got 'em done, but it was too dark to get a decent picture. I tried hanging the ladders from the side of the swimstep on the Jupiter, which is nice for boarding when the boat is pitching, but I did not have enough angle in them to make them lift themselves if they are left down or fall in.
When I sea trialed the Jupiter after the ladders were mounted, they were not tied in the up position. One of them fell to the down position and the force of the water at 40 mph bent it beyond imagination. So, I've gone back to hanging them on the stern, so there's no problem if they fall or are left down. I don't like to have to tie them up. Frequently, I have to pick up a couple divers who've come up some distance from the boat and it is much easier if I can leave the ladders in the water or they can just reach up and flip the ladder down themselves.
Tomorrow is flog on the trailer day.
Ladders and brackets for the insane
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