Sailing inyourfootsteps.com

Making boarding easier

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What is the issue?
Coming alongside and climbing aboard in a highly unstable tender is not an easy task. It is made infinitely more difficult by having to clamber over the guard rails. For people who are more senior than others, slightly heavier or are not familiar with a world in motion it can prove prohibitive. Even for born yachters it is less than convenient, is very awkward when ferrying provisions back and forth and a struggle in a chop.

Why address this?
Clambering aboard, particularly from a tender, is totally awkward on most vessels and a daily bane. It is a prime time for people to fall in and/or loose equipment or provisions. Worse, although guardrails are highly effective at keeping people aboard at sea, they make the retrieval of a man-over-board difficult.

How to address this?
Set in place a gate in the guardrails as presented in figure 1. You can place a cover over the cap rail in the gate area to prevent the wear and tear that may emerge due to the comings and goings. This also provides a convenient swimming and MOB recover area.

After a three year circumnavigation I can count on one hand the number of vessels that implemented a gate. It seems to be the one thing people overlook on a vessel less than 40 feet, yet it is something that could make life aboard a live aboard vessel much more convenient.

With thanks to:
Michael Harpur, Yacht Obsession.

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