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Boat boarding

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Pascal, Nov 29, 2021.

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  1. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    We ve had a few new boats moving in my marina since it has been rebuilt. This morning I noticed all the newer / modern boats have something in common. They are difficult to get on with acrobatics when tied in the typical fixed dock / finger pier US marina. There are a couple of older Azimut 50/60 with side boarding gates, same with a SR 650 fly. The others, not so much.

    Buyers beware... well unless you don’t want your mother in law to come on board, I’m which case these boats are perfect

    BA0ACC46-0FEA-4E39-8498-F5E319775FB3.jpeg
    Recent azimut. No side gate, after stretching your legs you need to make sure you wedge your foot between the capstan and cleat


    7901C35C-4012-46F5-A1DD-F6D12DC148B8.jpeg Beneteau Swift trawler. You get a side gate but it is too far forward to be usable at many finger pier. At least they tried

    AD6F4EEC-166F-439E-B774-05CE68DECAF8.jpeg
    another new Azimut. I don’t know how people get on this one, no flat surface, just a stylish curved surface without non skid

    43B6F519-53BB-4F22-88B0-567B01F76965.jpeg
    Gran Tourismo. Another big leap of faith and judging by the size of that stanchion base, I would not put too much side load on that railing. Maybe you can step on the tip of the cleat if you wear work boots. Note the cleat outside the hull which would result in serious gel coat chaffing should you cross your lines.
  2. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Do all the boats you're mentioning have transom platforms? What about Passerelles? In Europe, while not by any means completely this way, most boarding is done from the stern. When boarding from the side, typically some form of ladder is required.

    Are the finger piers in your marina fixed? I'm amazed at not rebuilding with floating.

    Your point of looking carefully at boarding in the process of a boat purchase is very important.
    T.T. and cleanslate like this.
  3. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    No passerelle. They don’t work everywhere anyway since some marinas, like this one, have dock boxes right in the center of the slip.

    since the concrete structure of the piers were mostly intact it was much cheaper to rebuild as was instead of converting all 600+ slips to floating. There are many marinas with fixed piers here on the East coast along with most private docks. Even in the Bahamas most marinas are fixed docks. Atlantis, Bay Street and the other 3 on the Harbor, Staniel, Highborne, compass... all fixed docks. Chub, Bimini Bay, Albany and emerald are the only floating piers marinas I can think of.

    it would be so easy for euro builders exporting boats here to just add small boarding gates and safe steps.
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  4. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    IMO, all current builders. Many just don't seem to think about it, or care.
  5. mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    All well and good, but I would blame marinas to start with, rather than euro builders.
    With non-floating dock, even if the boat does have side boarding gates, having a convenient access remains a matter of luck, and/or of adapting the access with external steps or whatever - which will require some adjustments in the next marina.
    Access via transom platform is much more convenient, if only the boat is tied to a floating dock.
  6. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Not blame the builder? If you want to sell a boat to a martian, you would include a seat to fit his asp.
    Why not build a boat for the U S that does not med-moor their boats? That is just poor sales ambitions.
    What else is poor, the guy who purchases these boats.
    Pascal has brought this topic up before.
    Time to just realize, there are brain damaged boaters out there.
    Beware;;; They Breed...

    Still, need more videos off Darwin candidates falling in the water.
    About the only thing entertaining with those SFBs.
    T.T. likes this.
  7. retiredguy

    retiredguy Member

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    Seems all that own a boat find a way to get on and off. Shrug...
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  8. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    It looks like, as the docks were aligned vs. the boats in the photos, that you probably have a fairly substantial step down to the transom platforms, but that's still how you'd have to board. Issues only develop when one wants to dock bow in and the transom platform is well beyond the finger pier.

    Boarding with steps for larger boats requires steps present and generally very high. It's a lot easier to step on a stern platform or use a passerelle than climbing 9 steps or so to get aboard on a larger boat.
  9. DOCKMASTER

    DOCKMASTER Senior Member

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    25’ + tidal range in my part of the world. If you don’t have a floating marina/dock that first step might be a doozy :):)
    bayoubud, chesapeake46 and cleanslate like this.
  10. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Yes and I didn't realize how big a problem I had I guess as we have boats we have to board on the platform, although one of them we could step over the side with a dock as high as the one shown.

    When it comes to these styles of boats, we're not the center of the boating universe. For some of these builders, the US is a very small part of their sales.

    Boarding gate and steps sounds nice but some boats have nowhere for the gate and entrance and then are the steps built in or separate and how far/many. Perhaps we need some photos of good examples of what one would like to see more often.

    I agree boarding can be a problem, but haven't seen better solutions than what is currently being done.
  11. olderboater

    olderboater Senior Member

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    Yes, and many areas have up to 8' variation. The worst I've seen is a lake, Fontana Lake in the NC mountains. They have about a 60' difference from summer to winter.
  12. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    Your vessel needs to have boarding options . At least two ways to board, given a multitude of dock configurations out there.

    My boat , I can get on from the stern platform and factory ladder and board.

    Or I can board port or starboard side aft onto the factory installed steps. Onto the aft deck.
    Only need a single box step to board . Which easily comes with us.
    Sometimes I don’t need the box step at all.
    IMO , all vessels should have two ways or more to board . No matter the size and shape of the boat.
  13. cleanslate

    cleanslate Senior Member

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    Yes , but the difference is you want a boat that you know you can get on and off simply , no matter where you go
    and dock.
    Your home slip may be doctored up and work out just right for you and your boat but when you leave to travel you won’t have that luxury all the time.

    “Finding” a way on and off is not much fun.
  14. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Purchase power.
    If the smarter boater does not like it, he (she) does not purchase it.
    Sadly, my comment here assumes a smarter boat shopper.
  15. KoffeeCruising

    KoffeeCruising Member

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    I was at Big Game/Bimini in 2018 and an older guy had charterered a 70’-ish-Euro looking yacht moored across from us. He had a nice blond companion with him—older than his “niece” would be, but easily 30-40 years younger than him.

    Next morning I was walking the dock early and they were on the rear cockpit with the guy and the guy said “can you help her get off this boat?” It was high tide and the bulwarks were about 5’ higher than the dock but the swim platform was was below the dock level. He basically held her under her armpits while she reached her legs down to me , then wrapped her arms around my neck to help her in the dock.

    She was hot; smelled great, was a bit embarrassed. Later the tide was lower and she was able to shimmy over the edge reboard herself. (Maybe I was hoping to help?). Later I was walking on the dock with my wife snd the companion was again on the rear cockpit and she said “there’s my knight in shining armor”. My wife looked at me a bit puzzled, and I explained how I helped. My wife didn’t roll her eyes… but maybe did mentally…

    And THAT is when I realized boarding options on some boats were very poorly designed. And Back on Topic!
  16. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    As I explained at least half the marinas on the east coast and Bahamas along with pretty much every private dock behind a home in Florida (biggest market by far) has fixed docks. It s up to the builders to sell vessels that are safe and practical to board. Again it s not rocket science... many do just that

    I guess euro builders also expect marinas not stop using wooden pilings so they don’t have to install tub rails. There is a very stylish Pardo which just moved in, black hull, no rub rail, narrow slip...
  17. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    here is one. Sea Ray 650 fly. Just a simple gate

    There are two older 50/60 azimuts with similar gates. Not difficult

    Attached Files:

  18. mapism

    mapism Senior Member

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    Why beware?
    For anyone involved in the boating industry, the more boaters like the ones you are referring to, the better.
    No matter how much you thought they were brain damaged, I bet you never called them like that whenever they were paying you good money for your services... :D

    Live and let live, I say.
    The lack of side boarding gates never stopped EU boats to be sold in the US, and my guess is that it never will, whether you like it or not.
    Besides, if I were boating in the US, I'd rather stay in a marina with floating docks regardless of having side boarding gates or not.
    And I pretend to not be brain damaged (yet).
    So, eventually also the marinas who prefer to skimp on infrastructure costs might be forced by the market to up their game eventually, who knows?
  19. Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Floating vs fixed is not just a matter of preference, you usually don’t have a choice as explained before.

    As to to skimping on infrastructure, nothing does it better than Europe and med mooring :)
  20. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Then you want more people operating on the water around you that may be impaired in reasoning and logic? Their vision is short and covered by a check book.

    One of the joys of running your own shop, when you are 3 to 6 weeks out, I got to pick what boats we had to crawl on & off of.
    Yes, We did refuse work to boats that we felt would take to much time to service, was unsafe to service, did not get a good vibe from the customer, already heard about from other vendors (small swamp) and was difficult to deliver service (meaning if we could not step on & off or in & out safely).

    New customer / vendor interviews go both ways.
    Last edited: Nov 30, 2021