Issue 28 : Jan/Feb 2003
My good friend, Lloyd Roberts, mentioned that he’d like a boarding gate over the transom of his Ericson 27, and I came up with this fix. It’s an easy modification, and the parts required are available from any boating supply store. It’ll work on almost any boat.
Determine the width of the gate you desire and remove that section of rail with a plumber’s pipe cutter. Clean up the ends of the fixed rail and press a polyethylene cap into each end. Make up a 1⁄16-inch stainless-steel cable with a swaged eye on one end that will allow you to slip it snugly over the fixed rail, and swage the other end to a 1⁄4-inch quick-release pin. This will act to keep the pin captive and keep it from falling into the water.
Now you’ll need some of the stainless-steel hardware used for Bimini tops and dodgers. Place two jaw slides on either end of that fixed rail; you will adjust them later. Now install a stainless-steel external eye on both ends of the rail you cut off.
Adjust the rail and external eye ends to fit the jaw slides and tighten all the setscrews. Attach an external eye to one of the jaw slides with the screw provided.
If you cut a wide gate, position the jaw slides such that they face up, forward, or aft. If the gate is short enough, position the jaw slides down. This way the gate can open down and not hit the top of the transom. If necessary, bend the tabs of the external eye ends as necessary to achieve a good fit. You’re done.
Materials list
The following is a list of materials. You can get the parts at any marine supply store.
- 2 1-inch external eye ends
- 2 1-inch jaw slides
- l quick-release pin
OR
- l Ball-Lok quick-release pin
- 12 inches of 1⁄16-inch stainless-steel wire
- 2 copper oval sleeves
- 2 polyethylene plugs
I used polyethylene plugs from McMaster-Carr.
Thank you to Sailrite Enterprises, Inc., for providing free access to back issues of Good Old Boat through intellectual property rights. Sailrite.com
