My main problem with splitting the rail is that the rail is only a single rail. I do not have the second middle rail. Any thoughts on beefing up the two half rails?
_____ From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of sleepbod Sent: Friday, June 19, 2009 1:38 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [IC27A] Re: swim ladder upgrade --- In ic...@yahoogroups. <mailto:IC27A%40yahoogroups.com> com, "Richard and Judy Bell" <randj...@...> wrote: > We have a split backstay, but it was still a pain trying to crawl over the bar. So I was concerned like you, but finally took a pipe cutter and removed the section leaving a couple of stubs which I covered with a white cane tip. One of the things I was concerned about was someone coming up the ladder and grabbing the stantions and trying to lever themselves into the cockpit. The way the transom slopes made this a real possibility. Modern boats have a reverse transom which makes it easier coming aboard. With the transom on the C27 you had to basically pull your self up with your arms. I put a board on the standoffs to kick the ladder away from the boat, so you ended walking up the ladder rather than pulling yourself up. It made a big difference in getting aboard and I never had any issues with pulling the stantions over. Last year though, we acquired an inflatable and I needed to put the outboard on the stern rail. I was concerned that with the vibration of the engine the stern rail might not survive. So I put a turnbuckle where the removed bar was and 2 small stantions on either side of the opening to help reinforce everything. I have a couple of pictures that show the cutout and reinforcement. I will try to send them along. Joe Keogh Branwyn #5465 > I have purchased the "stern mount" ladder from Catalina Direct with the > intentions of mounting on the transom of my 1974. I was thinking of cutting > the stern rail and capping the tubing some way. My concern is that the rail > may not be sturdy enough once it is split into two pieces. Has anyone done > a similar upgrade? Did you do anything special to strengthen the rail? > > > > Richard Bell > > 1974 Trad TR Atomic 4 >
