Practical projects
Laura Davies upgrades for Mediterranean mooring
Med mooring passarelle, prop rotation reminder and more!
Moored stern-to in the Mediterranean, getting ashore can be a problem if you don’t have a gangplank. I looked around for places to purchase boards that would be strong enough, but the logistics of actually going out to buy one made it very difficult, especially as we had no car.
So I looked online with the idea of having one delivered, which was when I realised how smart a passarelle might look instead. But the prices were shocking, so decided to make my own.
I started with half of a double ladder as a base, which I bought off a neighbouring liveaboard for the grand sum of £15. Any aluminium ladder of the correct width will do.
I removed the T-piece from
one end of the ladder and filed off the sharp edges to make them smooth.
I looked around for some wood to lay on top of the ladder to make it in to a passarelle, but the hard wood I did find was very expensive and heavy, while the soft wood I did not think was strong enough or would stand up to the wear and tear.
I happened to notice that across from where we were staying was an old wooden boat being done up. Piled up on the deck was lots of wood. I told the owner of my dilemma and we came to an agreement whereby I swapped an old VHF radio (we had a new one) for two planks of seasoned pine.
To stop the passarelle marking the boat I covered the part of the ladder that would be resting on the sugar scoop with plastic hose. I measured the length of the ladder and cut the pipe into two equal pieces.
I then split these pieces length ways so I could slip them over the outside of the ladder before securing them with some cable ties, careful to make sure the ends of the ties were uppermost so as not to rub on the boat.
Next I laid the planks on the ladder to determine the length I wanted. They fell just short of the full length of the ladder but were long enough to rest on the last rungs on each end.
I sanded the wood then gave each plank two coats of International Woodskin.
Once dry I then pushed both planks together and measured equal distances from each side of the ladder to determine the position I wanted them in.
I marked up where I would drill through the planks and then through the ladder rungs. I only needed two 6mm stainless bolts per plank – one at each end – but each hole obviously had to line up with a rung of the ladder.
For each bolt, I placed a stainless steel washer on the top of the plank, inserted the bolt and then placed another washer on the rung before attaching a wing nut.
I did this at the top and bottom of the ladder and hey presto, I have a very smart, lightweight and practical passarelle which can be taken apart for easy storage in the winter (and still be handy as a ladder for light use).
I secured the passarelle to the sugar scoop using attachments that were already on the boat. I also attached a rope to the outboard end of the ladder that enabling me to lift the passarelle like a draw bridge at night and for safety.
The whole project only took me an afternoon to complete and for a total cost of the £15 and a few bits I already had on board. It has made a big improvement to safe boarding and departure.