Sunday, August 13, 2023

Ladderwell v2.0

 13 Aug 23:

As mentioned a few weeks ago the operational testing of the ladderwell for our new lightship identifed some serious ergonomic issues and safety hazards. Since the playset was built for wee tikes up to age 4, I scaled down the steps to those of a young child. For some reason I did not consider that Skipper and Crew would spend more time on the children's playset than the 3 year old...

Grumblings from the crew about the small steps, has led to a complete rebuild. The steps were rebuilt with a 10 1/2 inch tread run with 1/2 inch overhang and a 6 7/8th inch rise. We used a 2x12 stringer so that there was room to raise the stringer an inch or so above the treads. For the steps we used two 2x6 boards, with one trimmed on the aft edge to lead a 1/2 inch scupper slot just before the riser, as we didn't want rainwater and leaves pooling on the steps.

Today, with the 113F heat index, we got the bottom riser attached, landing stones fit, first handrail post and handrail fit. The Skipper and Crew gave the steps a test and there were Thumbs Up all the way around. 

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