| SJ23 Tech Tip A06, (Issued 1998-10-26) Seattle SJ23 Club | |
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A Boarding Ladder for an SJ23 on a Trailer. |
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| Ever
have a problem climbing onto your SJ23 while it's on the trailer?
Some trailers have a ladder welded to the V block tree. This is a
really convenient place to climb on/off the bow during launch/retrieval.
It is not as convenient to climb in/out the cockpit for trailer sleeping.
This is when a step ladder is more convenient. Many people find
a
step ladder is not very steady when climbing on/off the boat. It is
also
awkward to store a step ladder on their SJ23 trailer.
The design below comes from one of the members of the original Seattle
SJ23 Club. You should be able to lay it snugly on the front of your
trailer for secure trailering. The L shaped hooks at the top of the ladder mate into holes in the toe rail to secure the ladder to the hull. This ensures that the ladder cannot fall backward or slide sideways. Measure the hole spacing on your SJ23 as they may not be the same as shown in the diagram below. In addition, since the L hooks work best with the ladder on flat ground and you seldom park a trailer on flat ground, I suggest rounding the bottom ends of the rails so the feet rest secure regardless of the angle to the ground. With the ladder lashed flat to the trailer it may also be handy to walk out on while launching. Sure beats getting wet.
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ALUMINUM LADDER -
Another variation on this design is to use a portion of an old
telescopic aluminum ladder. While you could buy one, sometimes they become
"available" when someone mangles one on a construction site,
ouch. Once bent, they no longer meet code and must be discarded.
If you
find one leaning against a dumpster and it still has an eight foot
straight section, just take it. Most guys are more than happy when you
remove the embarrassment! To make it useful for an SJ23 bolt some blocks
of cedar, or other soft wood, to the tops of the rails to protect the gel
coat. Embed the bolt heads so it doesn't scratch the gel coat.
The feature that makes one of these ladders really nice
is the angled and flattened rungs that are far more comfortable to step on
than the edge of a plank or round wood dowels as described above. No I'm not a garbage
picker but this is exactly how I got my ladder. I
just can't let good material go to waste. Besides, reuse is one of the
principals of recycling.