maryvmcclain
New member
I'm not as spry as Rob and had trouble getting myself out of the boat even though our Venture 23 has a nice step on it... I found I couldn't jump from the step onto the side (gunnel?) very easily. While on the NC Loop Gathering we saw the nice folding teak steps Neal (Delfin) had added to his C25 (attending Gatherings is dangerous)... but after measuring, we didn't think they would fit behind the door when it was opened. But we found these nice folding "mast steps" that work just great (picture in our album).
Rob also added two handles just on the edge of the cabin top. We had handles down along the side, but they were too low for me to grab when trying to hoist myself onto that side and to the dock. They fit under the bimini and don't rub against the canvas. I am now able to be a lot more helpful docking, and am not intimidated by the taller fixed docks we've encountered here on the East coast.
Also when you see the folding step in the album there is a picture of our nifty suction cup with bungee purchase. We found these in a marina store and they have infinite uses on our boat. They hold garbage bags, looped lines, keep items from slipping to the back of the cockpit.
The only "problem" we haven't really solved is a railing system to help me get up the swim step ladder. We changed out the ladder for one with more rungs, and it helped, but I really feel I need railings on both sides. We got a quote for custom rails... over $1K, so we're still searching for a solution. Fortunately (?) there isn't much desire to swim here on our east coast cruise.
I would post the pictures here but I don't know how to cut and paste them into the body of the post.
Mary[/img]
Rob also added two handles just on the edge of the cabin top. We had handles down along the side, but they were too low for me to grab when trying to hoist myself onto that side and to the dock. They fit under the bimini and don't rub against the canvas. I am now able to be a lot more helpful docking, and am not intimidated by the taller fixed docks we've encountered here on the East coast.
Also when you see the folding step in the album there is a picture of our nifty suction cup with bungee purchase. We found these in a marina store and they have infinite uses on our boat. They hold garbage bags, looped lines, keep items from slipping to the back of the cockpit.
The only "problem" we haven't really solved is a railing system to help me get up the swim step ladder. We changed out the ladder for one with more rungs, and it helped, but I really feel I need railings on both sides. We got a quote for custom rails... over $1K, so we're still searching for a solution. Fortunately (?) there isn't much desire to swim here on our east coast cruise.
I would post the pictures here but I don't know how to cut and paste them into the body of the post.
Mary[/img]
