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Companionway Ladder - From Awkward Brackets to Secure, Smooth Hinges.

There were several styles of ladders.  The early style for the settee galley is shown at right.  The style for the athwart ship galley looks like this but leans against the galley and is therefore shorter.  The top step is the anti skid plate on the counter top.  Later a metal version was introduced but it doesn't have the character of this teak version. 

CONSTRUCTION - Panache's ladder is made from solid teak which is somewhat expensive today and may be difficult to find due to the ongoing struggle for the control of the last remaining stands of virgin teak in northern Thailand.  Teak is also heavier than many other woods but doesn't rot due to the natural oil.  You could substitute teak with walnut, mahogany, ash or other hard wood.  Choose wood with straight, clear grain for strength and appearance.  You will have to experiment with stain to match your existing teak.  For red oak try a blend of cherry and fruit wood.  The oak parts in Panache's cabin turned out quite good.  With ash you might have to go a little redder.  You'll never match the glow of aged teak but then oak or ash will age as well.  Give it time.  A fresh coat of Cetol Marine over everything helps to blend colours. 

The finished dimensions of the runners are (1x4)" and 37" long.  When standing in the boat they are sloped 23⁰ off the vertical as shown above.  To prevent unsightly wood chipping on the bottom of the runners shave the front of the feet off to create a 1" face, vertical to the floor.  Round the top of each runner as shown above.

The finished dimensions of the treads are (1x5)" by 13" long.  The rise of each tread is 7".  The back of the tread is cut flush (23⁰) with the runners so you can lay the ladder flat.  The front of the tread protrudes about 3/4".  The end of each tread is set 1/4" deep into the runners.  All joints are glued and screwed with 2" long stainless #8 Roberts wood screws.  Panache's ladder is extremely stiff.

COATING - Round all corners to prevent splinters and to create a smooth shape for the coating to stick.  A sharp corner is the worst thing for a coating to stick to.  If you had to bet money on it, that's where the first chipping will occur.  Lightly sand all surfaces then wipe with acetone to extract some natural teak oil from the wood.  Now quickly, while the surface is dry, coat it with Sikkens Marine Cetol Marine or your other favourite stuff. 
 

FLIP UP LADDER (2008) - If you have the athwartship galley, the biggest threat you might have is to step into a fruit bowl left on the counter!  OK I don't like squashed fruit either but the first step on the empty counter is pretty secure footing compared to the first step on the ladder shown below.  The second step down off the galley might be a bit hairy though, as I've seen this short ladder popped out of its hangers as well.
Without the galley a four step ladder is required because "one giant step" into the cabin is a bit much for most people!  
All kidding aside, both ladders have their pros and cons.  The athwartship galley may be comfortable to use and have secure footing but the 4 step ladder leaves the most free floor space and hardly blocks the storage area under the cockpit.  I prefer the long ladder for day sailing or overnight anchoring since it frees up more floor space. Everybody needs a dance floor!  

The biggest problem with the four step ladder though is that it has a nasty habit of slipping out of the hanger brackets while the boat is heeled over; making the first step somewhat eventful!  The better part of my life flashed before me when I went down on my keester!  After I installed a rubber backed rug on the cabin sole I seldom experienced this problem, but I still didn't fully trust the ladder.  Without a rug or teak on the cabin sole the fibreglass is slippery.  I've also pushed the ladder up off the hanger brackets with my heel jammed under the bottom step.  I used to do this while working on something and I didn't even feel the ladder on my heel.  The danger in both situations being that I didn't realize the ladder had popped out of the brackets.

The second problem I have with this ladder has more to do with me than the ladder.  I hate the hassle of lifting it off the precise fitting brackets just to access stuff behind it or under the cockpit.  The heavy ladder is difficult to lift without straining the mounting screws.  This is especially true when the boat is under way.

CONSTRUCTION - The ladder parts of the hangers are bolted to the top of the rungs.  They drop into the bulkhead mounted parts bolted to the companionway.  You can see them in the photo above.  Panache's ladder showed Perko, part no. 669, but I have not seen them in any catalogue.  There is a lot of really beat up hardware out there on aging SJ23s that is ready to release under the weight of an unwary crew.  You'll hear comments from owners like, "Careful there, the ladder is a bit shaky."  So why not fix it?  Look after the brackets since replacing them today may be difficult!

Doug and I thought it time to improve on this crude system for a secure design that would make lifting quick and slick.  When we were "wasting time" on his cottage deck, he suggested flipping the ladder up.  This set in motion a brain storming session that resulted in this design.  These diagrams are not drawn to scale but describe the concept better than words can. 
Originally we opted to retain the removable feature shown in the diagram at left but experience has shown this feature to be unnecessary so we rejected it.  However, I left the detachable version here for all you machinists out there.  The pivot pin consist of a 1/4" bolt, with a clear shank, welded to a plate screwed on the outside of each rail.  The bulkhead portion of the hinge can be fabricated from 1/8" thick 2" angle aluminum.  If you add a couple of "quick pins" to the wall brackets then the ladder cannot pop off and would be removable without tools.  The top back corners of the rails must be rounded so the ladder can flip up on the hinges. 

I installed Panache's ladder with a bolt through the wood directly into each aluminum angle bracket mounted to a similar wall bracket shown above.  To ensure smooth operation and to simplify installation, the two wall brackets were mounted on a (20x3x3/4)" backing board.  This guarantees perfect alignment of the hinges to the ladder and eases the job of aligning the ladder so both feet are on the floor, at the same time!  Mount the wall brackets with the flanges facing outwards.  Reuse the Perko mounting holes to fasten the backing board as there is no sense drilling more holes than necessary.  Use flat head bolts so they don't snag things.  Seal all bolts. 

These hinges really increase the strength and the security over the original drop in Perko brackets.  I had no desire to remove the ladder, so just bolted the backing plate to the companionway and let it pivot on the bolts.  Talk about secure and simple.  For ease of fabrication and simplicity of installation, I installed this system.  My buddy Doug installed dual wall brackets on both sides of each rail for extra strength.  I didn't think it necessary.  For once I didn't build something to withstand WWIII!  This design has shown no wear and has not required repair.  I drilled out the old screw holes in the ladder rails and plugged them with 1/4" teak dowel and glue.  This restored the strength and sealed the wood.  Then I added a pivoting support stick fabricated from an old ski pole.  Now this part is really slick. 

This ladder hinge is not difficult to make as it can be fabricated with hand tools and a drill.  However, you must be precise in setting the hinges so they turn on a common axis to make the ladder swing freely.  Take your time and use clamps to hold the hinges in place while you drill the holes. 

I'm sure you can think of other hinge variations.  This is by no means the only one.  For instance the ladder could be mounted further away from the companionway (deeper into the cabin) to widen the top step a bit.  It was an accidental bonus in this design.  I like this idea but I ran out of time.

OPERATION - To access the storage area under cockpit, swing the ladder up and pull the support stick down.  Alternatively you could tie the ladder to the ceiling or sliding hatch handle.  Just make damned sure that the line doesn't let go while you are under there or you will be going home with the impression of a ladder rung across your butt.  Failing that, you will definitely see the underside of the cockpit in a hurry!  I made my support stick from an old aluminum ski pole (basket removed).  Hinge the stick to the back of the ladder rail so it can swing down as you raise the ladder.  Lock the stick to the back side of the rail into a spring loaded bracket similar to a tiller extension.  There, now you can forget about the knot!  You'll appreciate the convenience.  Just don't kick it or you will suffer the same fate as the knot letting go!

NOTE:  This may sound ridiculous but with the ladder raised to the horizontal position it could double as a work surface, drying rack or to keep kids or dogs in/out of the cabin!  Hmmmm.

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