Best boarding ladder for a Hobie??

Which of these boarding ladders would work best with a Hobie? I need one for my Getaway. Thoughts?

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/Findin ... /page2.asp




1. Plastimo Rope Boarding Ladder
2. Sea-Dog Step 5 Rope Ladder
3. Davis Swim Stirrup Reboarding Ladder
4. Doyle Quickstep Boarding Ladder
5. C-Level Sea Steps Safety Ladder (1 step)
6. C-Level Sea Steps Safety Ladder (3 step)
7. Garelick Inflatable Boat Ladder
8. Plastimo Folding Inflatable Ladder
9. Plastimo Five Step Safety Ladder
10. Garelick EEz-In Gunwale Ladder
A 10' length of 5/8" polyester line

Number 3 & 5 get good reviews.

I would just take a piece of large rope with a loop at the end to put your feet in. You can get creative and put a step similar to 3 or 4.

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Marc...
1978 Hobie 16 Keoke, sail# 36 84

You might like to look at this post by Roadrunner about kayak boarding ladders:
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=35810

In a kayak, the problem with a rope loop is that it will swing under the boat and not give such good support. Something with stiff sides is better. I don't know about boarding sailboats.

Mary

RobDek :
We have a Tandem Island and use it all the time for scuba diving. What we did was buy some plastic 1/2" water pipe and strung 1/4 inch rope through it. The one end is tied to the lift handle, and the other end has a loop to fit over any handy fitting. We keep the ladder on the boat at all times stored in the net pocket next to the rear seat. I weigh 220# and have climbed on board with a hundred lbs of scuba tanks/gear/weights on with no problems many times. Of course when we are diving the TI has the AMA's and tramps on and the other end of the ladder is looped around the eyelett on the rear AKA bar. Something like this I think would work well on a Getaway, where you could just bungy it to the tramp or something when not using it. We had this same ladder on our old Oasis, but had it mounted at the far rear of the boat (easier to get on a regular kayak back there then climb forward)

In this picture you can see the red rope and the white rungs under water

Hope this helps
Bob

I did make some loops out of 1" line but have not had the chance to try it. I do like the 1" plastic pipe idea, although hanging off the back of the getaway it still may be hard to use. You would also need something that would be easy to move side to side as you never know which way you will capsize. I don't think I need much help just a small boost to help me up.

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06 getaway -- always remember, man with both feet in mouth have no leg to stand on.

I have something close to no1 I bought it at West Marine It was used when the kids were very small Any adult should have little problem getting on board

It has to be the under deck mount model here
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=101176&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=10105&subdeptNum=10397&classNum=10398&AID=10540053&PID=4003003&SID=1ka4hbovc0q7s&CID=cj

Looks like for some reason the link has only the over platform models available...
but good idea for someone looking to fabricate something themselves of similar design- and save $100 ?
I've considered a design central to the dolphin striker which could fold up horizontally- still a protrusion in front of the mast which is already a 'busy' area...
I might try a design in SketchUp (which I'm trying to learn...)

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Raise your sail one foot, and you get ten feet of wind.
起你的一只帆，和你10英尺的。 -- Chinese Proverb
William D. Latinette @ Latrobe, PA, USA w. H14 Turbo X 2... [email protected]