Ladder vs Stern safety line
Submitted by Chrisrog on Sat, 07/06/2019 - 15:30
I took the stern safety line off my boat today while installing the ladder. Now I'm wondering if I should put it back on or not. It seems like the line would be a good safety feature to have on the boat, but I'm not certain how the ladder would operate properly with the rope set at the right length?
Are the rope and ladder mutually exclusive?
Chris Rogers, Birmignham, AL
FS5257
Mon, 07/08/2019 - 13:26
Permalink
Excellent question.
Chris,
Excellent question. My recommendation would be to keep both, depending on your situation in the time of need, the safety line can be easy to grab & pull yourself to the stern ladder.
If you are racing, the stern safety line must be in place per Class rules.
You can also use a good quality carbiner & plastic ball on the port side of the safety line and then unclip it from the port ring if needed .... the ball will not fit between the rudder & transom and effectively increase the length of the safety line.
Loop your safety line to the rear of the ladder.