Installing a ladder?

numbers

New Member
I want to install a ladder on my capri.

When we heave to in the middle of the lake, a rope is just too hard to use getting back in.

And with the temperatures in the 100's, you gotta cool off !

Has anyone installed a ladder on the transom? If you did, how did you attach it?

I think the transom is hollow, so does it need internal reinforcement?

Do just drill holes through the transom and bolt on the ladder?

Any advice is welcome

John
 
Here are some pictures of my boarding ladder installed. I can walk you thorough the installation if you send my your email address. The stern of the boat is hollow and you need to install backing plates. [email protected]
 

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I used a Garelick 19615 ladder. You need to be able to access the inside of the stern of the boat under the seat, so I bought a Beckson 103598 deck plate and Beckson 6848956 red storage bag. I centered the deck plate on the seat and cut the opening (don’t cut the opening to big, or your in real trouble) but did not mount the plate yet, as I needed the larger opening to reach inside. I now had the access I needed to the inside of the stern. I was then able to reach inside the boat to install the ladder. I positioned the ladder where I wanted it and drilled the holes to mount it. I felt there needed to be more support than just fender washers would give me so I bought a piece of ¼” teak to use as a backing plate for both sides of the ladder and using marine grade epoxy, glued the teak to the inside of the boat covering the holes I had just drilled. The two holes that are nearer the center and not under the seat, needed something to fill the void between the inside and outside walls of the stern, so I doubled up the teak and glued it in place to fill that void. Now that I was happy with my placement of the teak backing plates, I drilled through the teak and all the way through the stern, this is all above the waterline but I still used marine grade silicone to make everything water tight. The ladder needed two small spacers to lay flat so I used small pieces of teak for this. Once I was happy with everything, I used stainless bolts, nuts, fender washers and lock washers and mounted the ladder. Now it was time to mount the deck plate, I wanted to use the Beckson red storage bag which has a small plastic ring that MUST BE INSTALLED in place before the plate is attached to the seat. The seat has a small amount of curvature to it, meaning it is not flat, so while I was tightening the bolts to hold it down, I keep tightening and loosening the screw out cap and while it was still able to be unscrewed I stopped tightening the bolts. Once I was done with installing the deck plate and ladder, I installed another deck plate on the other seat just to even out the look and also to give me more storage room. I keep my handheld gps and wallet as well as my car keys and cell phone in these storage bags. This entire project took me about three hours, working by myself.
 
Greg,
that sound a nice work. Can you post a foto of the Beckson red storage bag instalation, please. Tanks.
 
Greg,
that sound a nice work. Can you post a foto of the Beckson red storage bag installation, please. Tanks.
 
This is the Beckson deckplate installed. Do not cut the hole to large.
 

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I did as gregwcoats described, except put the hatch on the vertical face of the seat. Luckily, I had some teak lying around, so I used that. It looks about like Greg's installation. The only difficulty is crawling over the traveler line when crawling over the transom. I also glued a couple pieces of tygon tubing strips on the steel ladder where it comes in contact with the base of the ransom when deployed.
 
Thank you for the reply Greg.

My boat already has the deck plates installed on the vertical part of the seat. It may be a bit harder to position the backing material because of the working angle.
For the inside backing plate closest to the center of the transom, how did you make sure you got it in the right spot to epoxy it in place?

I was thinking I could drill holes in the transom, then predrill holes in the plate and line it up that way, maybe put some screws through the transom into the drilled holes and pull the internal plate tight after applying the glue.

What epoxy did you use to bond wood to fiberglass?

I just ordered the Garelick 19615 from starmarinedepot for $69.95 + $18 shipping.

I am really looking forward to installing this ladder, the temperature today and yesterday was 105 F !

John
 
I drilled the holes where I wanted the ladder mounted, then I marked the center of the backing plate (teak) then I put West Systems two part epoxy on the piece of teak and put it back inside the boat and moved it around until the marks lined up with the holes in the boat. I then drilled though the teak and bolted everything together. Your idea of using screws to pull the teak up against the fiberglass is a good one, I wish I had thought of that. The West Systems epoxy takes 24 hours to dry. I used a lot of epoxy since it did not matter if it got all over the inside of the boat, but don't let it get on the seat or any part of the outside of the boat. When I was done, I stood back and thought to myself, that was not as big a project as I had thought it was going to be. The real hard part was cutting the hole, I measured it at least 5 times and still crossed my fingers before cutting the hole, but you already have that part done.
 
Don't forget to use small "standoffs" between the ladder and boat, so the ladder will mount flat. You'll see what I mean when you get the ladder.
 
I find this ladder set-up very interesting, it hangs away from the boat which should allow that extra little forward lean I need to get myself up and out of the water and over the transom.

This is an America 14 sailboat, I have not investigated purchasing this item as I intend to have a go at building it myself:
 

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Hi Gregwcoats, I got the same kind of ladder but it came without the securing strap! Any idea where I can buy it online from as I live in Egypt.
 
Thanks Greg. I can't seem to find it on the site but again I'm not sure I know what it exactly looks like as it is not clear in your pictures. Do you have a pic or part number? I also sent you an email earlier regarding your installation. I would be grateful if you can provide some hints at your convenience.

Regards
 
Thanks Greg. How did u attach it to the transom? Did u screw it on? By the way I sent you an email on the 13th on your Yahoo account did you get it? Maybe went to your junk folder.

Ahmed
 
I used a Garelick 19615 ladder. You need to be able to access the inside of the stern of the boat under the seat, so I bought a Beckson 103598 deck plate and Beckson 6848956 red storage bag. I centered the deck plate on the seat and cut the opening (don’t cut the opening to big, or your in real trouble) but did not mount the plate yet, as I needed the larger opening to reach inside. I now had the access I needed to the inside of the stern. I was then able to reach inside the boat to install the ladder. I positioned the ladder where I wanted it and drilled the holes to mount it. I felt there needed to be more support than just fender washers would give me so I bought a piece of ¼” teak to use as a backing plate for both sides of the ladder and using marine grade epoxy, glued the teak to the inside of the boat covering the holes I had just drilled. The two holes that are nearer the center and not under the seat, needed something to fill the void between the inside and outside walls of the stern, so I doubled up the teak and glued it in place to fill that void. Now that I was happy with my placement of the teak backing plates, I drilled through the teak and all the way through the stern, this is all above the waterline but I still used marine grade silicone to make everything water tight. The ladder needed two small spacers to lay flat so I used small pieces of teak for this. Once I was happy with everything, I used stainless bolts, nuts, fender washers and lock washers and mounted the ladder. Now it was time to mount the deck plate, I wanted to use the Beckson red storage bag which has a small plastic ring that MUST BE INSTALLED in place before the plate is attached to the seat. The seat has a small amount of curvature to it, meaning it is not flat, so while I was tightening the bolts to hold it down, I keep tightening and loosening the screw out cap and while it was still able to be unscrewed I stopped tightening the bolts. Once I was done with installing the deck plate and ladder, I installed another deck plate on the other seat just to even out the look and also to give me more storage room. I keep my handheld gps and wallet as well as my car keys and cell phone in these storage bags. This entire project took me about three hours, working by myself.
_
I did not get your personal email, try again [email protected] don't forget to put the 1 before the @
 
Thanks Greg, I read this post in the beginning of the thread. My question was about how u installed the securing strap, this is not mentioned in your post. Also is there any specific reason the ladder has to be installed on the right side of the transom?
 
The strap is held on with a phillips screw and washer. The velcro strap wraps around the ladder when the ladder is up and is easy to reach from the water to unhook the ladder so it will unfold. There is no pressure on the screw at all so I was not worried about it pulling out from the hull. I do not have a motor mount on my boat and so could have mounted the ladder on either side of the stern. It looks like most people that do have a motor mount on their boats mount it on the port (left) side so I just picked the other side for my ladder.
 
Perfect. Thanks Greg. If you have more pictures for the whole installation process other than the ones posted in this thread please send them to my personal email [email protected]

Many thanks.
 

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