New Sport- Ladder Riding!

This morning I put all my skills and talents to work sanding the transom of "Tango".  I did neglect to use any of those attributes in my placement of the ladder, however.  Compounding my embarrassment is the choice of ladder.  I have one of the few ladders to have the "extra heavy duty" rating from OSHA.  A "Little Giant" Ladder system is the most stable ladder around and with the extra leveler leg will even stand on uneven ground.  Too bad I was standing on my folding six-foot lightweight ladder when the leg slipped into the little trench separating two pieces of pavement.

It's amazing how very fast, yet seemingly slow the fall was.  I fact the fall did not hurt at all.  The landing, however, was a bitch!  Couldn't get my feet clear to jump and hung on like the thing would bounce. Neither it, nor I, did so.  During my non-bounce I rammed knees into rungs, my left hand into something sharp, and as a final insult barked hell out of my shin!  As I lay on my left shoulder wondering if all of Dr. Gallagher's good work on that joint had just been ripped apart, I did a quick physical inventory and found all the major parts worked.

The Cubans working on the fishing boat two down heard all the clatter and cussing and were running to help me when I waved them off with thanks.  After that episode, I climbed the much more expensive ladder and went into the cabin to get the Band-Aids from the kit and seal up the leaks.

The reason for today's exertion is to prepare the transom for her new name of "Tango".  Even though the vinyl lettering for "Malana" came off cleanly, The surrounding gel-coat had eroded leaving slightly raised letters. So we sand and paint. 

The davits were installed by morons.  They cantilevered a great pair of Edson davit arms out 12 inches supported only by the thin fiberglass of the cockpit coaming.  They did put backers inside the coaming, but the glass flexed so much the davits couldn't carry any load.  Their solution was two motorcycle straps per arm .  Dumb and ugly. 

My answer is a strut made of 1 inch stainless tubing dropping down to a plate on the transom.  This rig transfers the load vertically and can't punch through on either end.  Should be strong enough to hoist the dinghy out overnight with the engine and accessories.