New boat on order!!!! Ladder Recomendations.

[padiscubapro]

I just ordered a Scout 242 Abaco!!! The boat is awesome. I'm in the marine business and am so impressed by the quality I ordered one instead of one of the other boats I could get at or near cost.

Anyway, the boat comes with the standard three step fold up boarding ladder. (the only downside to this boat is it doesn't come with the "T" style dive ladder that other walkarounds come with) The ladder that comes with the boat is the same ladder my 29 Cobalt has and my wife and I are bending it when boarding with all our dive equipment on. We're not big people either, I'm 6' 200lbs she's 5'5" 125lbs. We dive with larger people than us and am looking for the best solution for a high quality dive ladder.

Considering the cost of the boat and how nice it is, I'm quite frankly not concerned about the cost of a ladder. I've looked into getting one custom done once I get the boat. The $1000 for a custom aluminum isn't the problem, the fact that some of them are huge and ugly is.

I would love some feedback from you folks on ladder options. You can see the boat at http://www.scoutboats.com/models/242abaco.html

At the bottom of the page is the floorplan layout. It shows the boarding ladder platform on the port side. The area in front of the engine folds down to make boarding very easy.

Thanks in advance

the best ladders I have seen are from
www.techdivetools.com

Enrique has fabricated custom ladders for several commercial dive boats..

 

[Tom Winters]

Tom, Do you know where I can get a 36" wide poly swim platform ? I know they make a 24" , which is what I have now, but if I can get a 36" swim platform, Instead of stepping one foot, on the platform, then over, we could actually stand if needed, when boarding the boat. I saw they go from 24" to 72 ", couldn't find nothing in between.

You might have to fabricate something like this yourself - there's no market for in-between platforms. You'd need appropriate angle brackets on the bottom for support plus a platform made from either teak or some type of plastic.
There are lots of marine-grade brackets out there - most transoms have fairly similar requirements.
Platform-wise - I saw in Hawaii commercial gardening shelving that were these huge panels of plastic with honeycomb patterns in them for drainage. They had to be UV-resistant, they were pretty strong - maybe 1.5" thick, and they could be cut into any shape imaginable. They drain instantly too. You'd probably have to add some kind of fiberglass lip on the outside so your boat didn't look like KMart from the stern though.

 

[keelhaul123]

Check these guys out....http://www.techdivetools.com/.....they have it all, custom ladders, benches etc.

 

[BrianS]

That same link was posted a few posts up.

 

[Tom Winters]

Enrique's ladder would look a little out of place on a 24' Abaco. His ladders are geared more for large dive boats in the Northeast carrying well-fed divers wearing all sorts of gear plus huge weight belts to get their big fa... oops - get their drysuit-clad bodies underwater.
The swing-up Armstrong Christmas tree ladder would be a little more feasible for a boat this small.

 

[cobaltblue]

Thanks for all the help!! The boat is set to arrive at the dealership tomorrow around noon. I have a felling I won't be at work in the afternoon. I can't wait to dive it!!!!!

I think I am going to go with the Armstrong. It seems like it is the best size for the boat. The big custom jobs are nice but as Tom stated, they are too big for the boat.

Once again, thanks for all the input.

 

[tremtech]

I have that three step ladder on my 232 well craft and I weight 250 and with twin tanks never bent the ladder