Boarding Ladder

 I received an email from our local marine store with a great deal on a stainless-steel four step folding transom boarding ladder.

Here is a pic of the ladder folded from the catalog.

And this pic shows the ladder extended.

Prior to installing I needed to ensure the following: 

• It must not interfere with the full rotation of the rudder.
• When folded the lowest part of ladder is above the waterline.
• When fully extended the lower step is sufficiently below the waterline but not below the lowest point of the rudder or keel to allow easy access when climbing aboard and not hit the ground when beach anchoring.
• The fully extended ladder must be at 90 degrees to the water line and not follow the angle of the transom.

Firstly, I re-installed the rudder and levelled the boat to the waterline.

Next the ladder was temporarily positioned and held in place with clamps.

Using a spirit level I adjusted the ladder to ensure it was vertically and horizontally level.

I clamped a piece of scrap to hold the ladder away from the transom into a vertical position. Measurements were taken to extend the horizontal supports to ensure the ladder is completely vertical and at 90 degrees to the ocean.

Now it was time to ensure the location didn't interfere with the full rotation of the rudder.

It required a few adjustments with the ladder in the folded and extended positions to ensure the correct location.