Splitting the boarding ramp
The boarding ramp design for the Tiki 46 is subpar in my opinion. It’s too wide (about 10 feet) and very unwieldy and floppy. It’s already too heavy as per plans, so if it is stiffened appropriately the weight would be too much to raise and lower without at least 2 people. Not a good option if someone goes overboard and one person needs to move the ramp for a rescue. An additional problem with the ramp for us is that the head of the Johnson outboard hits it preventing us from raising the motor as far as we can.
So with saw in hand, Jeff split the thing in half.
He put one half on deck to apply a new lug to it.
The other half he lowered onto the spare dinghy…
.. and then moved it to the other side of the boat where he had installed new lugs for it.
Hopefully the two smaller segments will be easy enough for even one of the girls to raise and lower if needed.
Two things to note additionally in the pictures. The top pic shows our new yellow Kipor generator. This little 2000w machine matches all of the specs of the Honda 2000 for about half the price. It’s extremely quiet, lightweight and very fuel efficient. Jeff and I can converse in normal voices while standing right next to it without any difficulty. Another thing to note is the blue fabric along the back of the cockpit. This is Sunbrella View Panorama. It has made our lives so much more comfortable by blocking 90% of the sun as well as letting the breeze come through while stopping the heat from penetrating. Good stuff.
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Hi Sue and Jeff,
Can one person raise a ‘sufficiently stiffened’ per plans boarding ramp with a winch?
I like Ann and Nev’s solution. What do you think of that? I was also thinking of designing some type of spring-loaded assist mechanism that isn’t too tightly wound(I can already see my boys trying to catapult stuff -or each other- over the bows….)
Hi Bob,
I can just barely get the ramp up as per plans using our pulley system. I can’t budge it if the dinghy is on it – but Jeff can. So…if Jeff needs rescuing, using the ramp isn’t going to work if he has to rely on me.
Look also at Cynthia and Jean-Pauls blog , they have noted problems with the effort the ramp requires to lift.
I love Ann and Nevs set up and I would highly recommend implementing the same thing. They actually have one half of the ramp area as a fixed tramp. This is possible due to the beam they placed at the back. We have an old mast as our back beam which makes that option more difficult. Our new design is 2 ramps that work independently of each other. I can lift them individually without any effort. Now I just have to throw Jeff in the water and try lifting him!
A catapult is never good with children on board. I have enough trouble with teenagers diving off the front tramps and the top of the bow sprit let alone worrying about them launching the dog. Stick with a nice sedate pulley system and you’ll keep your sanity for a little longer.