[quote=Quarath]I am a big guy and have the same problem getting back on the boat. I have done one time with the help of my oldest son and it was very difficult. My wife went over on a friends boat and had a difficult time getting back on as well.
I have been trying to come up with a solution a well. The side of the boat by the shrouds just does not work for me I have to much weight pulling outward and not enough leverage to pull on board so as I go up I go out not in. I think the best bet for me going to be something at the beam between the hulls. I have had 2 ideas I have been thinking about. One is a retractable rope like the righting lines that have a hollow rope with a bungee core. On end starting at the beam the other traveling forward to a bit behind where the bridle connect (This is on a P18) I would connect these by putting a hole in the lip of the deck lid similar to the ones used for the shrouds and bridles and feeding it though and tying it off. The bungee would retract this along the underside of the deck lip and the rope would allow it to be pulled down just a bit to get a foot hold. I also considered at piece of PVC or some thing in the middle to act as a step. At this location you have both the beam and the hull to work with. If you can throw a leg over the hull you should be good :) right. You could have one on each side.
Another idea was a variation only it would stretch between the hulls just in front of the beam. I haven't been able to work out the logistics but picture a kind of rope ladder that is attached to the inside of both hulls. When not in use it is stretched tight via bungee across both hulls kinda like the tramp. When need your weight can pull is down under the water letting you get on top of it. The rope parts would restrict how far in the water is could go so you could actually sit on it and be just a foot or so under the water. You could use the ladder rungs to climb towards either hull until you could sit on the beam. By being attached between the hull the rope ladder could not be pushed under the boat making it impossible to use.
I have has no time to make a prototype of either.
Also one other idea was a straight rope ladder attached to the front beam in some sort of bag that zipped it in. You can unzip then attach the bottom end via carbiner to something on the front of the boat like where the bridles attach and or the bottom of g the forestay. This would keep form going under the boat but it would be difficult to put it away until you got to the beach.
Sorry for the typos I dont have time to proof read.
Oh and I like both those ladders but I have no idea how you would implement them.<!-- editby --><em>Edited by Quarath on May 05, 2011 - 03:53 PM.</em><!-- end editby --> [/quote]
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