I made a stainless steel boat boarding step for my Moody 346, Klondike Kate, primarily for my wedding so my wife, Heather, would not have to struggle aboard in an ungainly manner for our wedding photos – she’s much more at home in oilskins than a dress, writes Thomas Parker.

Since then, the step has been greatly admired, both in my home ground of Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland, and when we went cruising in Western Scotland.

The wooden step is supported by a stainless steel tubing strut.

The project

Coming alongside a pontoon can be tricky enough at the best of times and more so if entering a strange marina. With concentration firmly focused on boat speed, wind direction and other boats (plus the unwanted attention of other sailors) the skipper has to be confident that the crew will be able to jump from boat to pontoon quickly and tie up the mooring lines swiftly.

One small but often overlooked piece of equipment to help this is the boarding step.

This can be a fender step, or if you have a small freeboard, then no step at all.

The trouble with fender steps is they can be squashy, especially if not fully inflated, changing shape or wobbling when a person’s weight is on them.

Close-up of how the step is hooked on. Credit: Thomas Parker

Boat boarding step parts list

Here’s everything I needed to make the step:

• 25mm stainless steel tubing, for the frame
• 20mm stainless steel tubing for top and bottom cross pieces
• Length of wooden decking
• 4 x 35mm stainless steel screws
• 2 black stop ends
• 2 grey rubber stoppers from a walking mobility aid (black stoppers leave marks on the hull)
• Services of a stainless steel fabricator and welder

A lanyard helps prevent the step from being dropped overboard during deployment. Credit: Thomas Parker

The solution

Klondike Kate has aluminium toerails with scupper holes and my step neatly clips into these holes, making a rigid platform that falls halfway between the deck and pontoon.

It’s therefore very easy for Heather (or anyone else, for that matter) to step onto the pontoon safely and do her crew bit of tying up the forward and aft lines.

Angled brackets will hook into the boat’s toerail holes.

A removable boarding step is safer and more comfortable

If you have weak or dodgy knees, the step takes the ‘jarring potential’ out of landing on the pontoon.

A rope lanyard with a snap clip secures the step to the boat, just in case it’s dropped when attaching it to the toerail.

The dimensions to fit the toerail for my boat are 49cm wide, 38cm high, a step depth of 14.5cm and a total depth of 24cm – but these can be modified to fit other toerails on other boats.

The step is stored neatly in the cockpit locker when not in use.

Email your Practical Projects and tips to pbo@futurenet.com including high resolution photos where possible. We pay at least £30 for each one published. 

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