Fall out of the boat?

Do you ever think about how you would get back in your boat if you fell out? I have been kind of gimpy the last couple of years and know for sure I could NOT get back in the boat by myself. I do wear a life jacket all the time now, but that may not help when the water gets cold. Yesterday I was behind a nice newer Alumacraft fish and ski boat that had a small swim platform and handrail. It put me thinking about trying to rig something like that on my 16 ft tiller. Not a bunch of room on my rig, with transducers and such, but a little horizontal step and a vertical grab bar could save this old guys rear end. Has anyone rigged something like this on their boat?

I have thought about that exact situation. Hope to see some good ideas.

MWal

If you find yourself on the wrong side of the gunwale and can’t get back in put a foot on your motor’s cavitation plate hang on and trim yourself up into the boat.

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If you find yourself on the wrong side of the gunwale and can’t get back in put a foot on your motor’s cavitation plate hang on and trim yourself up into the boat.

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X2

Great idea! Thank you, I don’t know if I would of thought of that if I was in the drink.

You could mount one (or 2) of these to use in conjunction with the cav plate.

Step Plate

-J.

Step in the motor hit the tilt and trim for a cheap thrill

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If you find yourself on the wrong side of the gunwale and can’t get back in put a foot on your motor’s cavitation plate hang on and trim yourself up into the boat.

X 3

Sven and Ole were good n plastered and fell out of da boat.

Ole tried to drink the lake.

Sven tried to pee into the boat.

Boat US reviewed some re-boarding ladders last year and the C-level got a pretty good rating so I have one of these strap-type ladders tied to a rear cleat that I can reach from the water in my Jon boat. I must admit I have not tested it personally though.
I think it’s a good idea as getting back in from cold water or wearing waders would be challenging.
PJM

The site below has a discussion and some other options.
Boarding ladders

There are two times you will need to get back onto your boat from the water. First when you are swimming i.e. intentionally going into the water, and secondly when you fall overboard. The problem when you fall overboard, is that in most cases boats do not have a though out process, for getting you back onboard.

I have had two incidents of a MOB and both were in calm waters. I can tell you its much more difficult than you think to get a person back onboard. In one case the MOB was so tired by the time he got back to the boat, that he did not have the energy to pull himself up. We tried to help him but were having difficulty time in grabbing him as there was not much to grab onto.

Had we a boarding ladder or a plan, getting the MOB back aboard would have been much easier.

The RNLI says that people falling overboard (MOB or COB) is on the rise, with numbers almost doubling in the last year. In the US 2/3 of boating deaths are from drowning and 90% were not wearing a PFD.

http://www.myboatsgear.com/newsletter/2009212.asp

C Level: This simple and cheap and space saving strap is an easy addition and does work. Its a bit harder to climb up into the boat with a strap rather than a step as the strap moves around.

I thought about getting something like this once.

I have this on my boat http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?i=76243&pdesc=Telescoping_Drop_Ladders&aID=601K&merchID=4006. This also works great for kids too.

And mine!