New opening at rail

[roundIII]

1988 40' MY. Has opening thru rail at mid salon port and starboard. On short fingers this causes all ingress and egress from stern. This is a problem especially when trying to avoid having the swim platform either hit the dock or go under the dock. Difficult boarding for shorter person, not mentioning any names. I am weary of the complaints.

I am considering cutting the rail midway on the rear deck on each side and installing the same type of ends for chains that are on the present openings. Has anyone done this and are there things I should be watching for? It appears to be a simple solution but this is a boat and nothing is simple, ever!

Thanks,

RR

 

[Beckytek]

I had the same problem at my last marina, short finger pier. I made a gangplank that went from the dock to the top step of the boarding ladder. This is at the stern. It worked fine for 7 years. I'm at another marina now and board from the side. We had a slight tide change there, so it wouldn't work everywhere. Ron

 

[Pascal]

why cant' marinas have good finger piers!

same problem... I bow in with 53 (better view, more breeze, more privacy and able to launch the cat boat with the crane) and the finger pier is too short. finally cut the rail and added a pair of brackets for the marquipt, about 12' forward of the PH doors.

 

[roundIII]

Thanks for the replies. Before I cut anything I wanted to make sure that the rails themselves would not lose any of their integrity. I plan on doing this on both sides of the rear deck as well as the bow so I will have access stern in or bow in, preferred. I have used the plank method but this is not condusive to traveling as then you have to stow the plank to bring it with you.

You guys with sport fishers do not have this problem. As for why the fingers are so short, I often wonder that myself.

Happy Holidays

RR

 

[Pascal]

the rail itself will be fine, but you may need to add a thinner SS tube at a 45 degree angle from the cap rail. this is how hatteras set up the cut out by the PH on the MY and it helps tensioning the life line

 

[Glory]

A friend of mine that has a 46 Choey Lee MY/Trawler added a second passage aft and installed the marquip steps in such a way that when the steps are retracted they act as the gate. With a smoll block and tackle he is able to retract or deploy the steps single handed in a flash.

This is something I've considered. It is on my list, I forget how far down at the moment.

JM

 

[Pascal]

for that to work, you need to install the brackets on top of the toe rail, that's what i did. i can lift them up by hand although they stick up!

i've been thinking about putting a hinge on the steps bracket to allow the stairs to fold down along the rail.

those stairs are great but a real pita to set up and store, this helps.

 

[roundIII]

Thanks for all the replies. I think what I am going to try is just cutting the rail midway on the aft deck and installing chains such as the ones on the factory opening in the rail. This opening is not supported by anything but the rails themselves unlike the opening at the stern where there are additional supports as described by Pascal. If this works then I will try the other areas.

I would like to have the ramps and steps as described but do not want to add anything else to stow. Being a 40' room is precious and I like to keep the decks as clear as possible.

RR