Hi Guys,
I bought Aurigny Song, Ballad No 69 earlier this year and am loving owning her. I've got couple of questions I hope you guys can answer.
I'm looking at fitting a couple of D rings to clip onto in bad weather. Is there an area in the cockpit that is best to fit them? Is there a place that is designed to put them?
I am also going to fit a swim ladder to the transom, could anyone advise me on what type is best - I'm based in the UK if that is any help.
I look forward to hearing from you. thanks Lew  | Hi Lew, just in case you don't receive a response. Re: anchor points for jack lines, I don't know.
Re: Ladder location, I won't be at my boat before three weeks however I have a couple pictures of my Ballad that might give you the approximate location of the ladder and position.
Please let me know i f you wish. Cheers, Edgard |
 | Edgard, Thanks very much for you reply. If you do get time it would be great if you could send me a couple of pictures of your ladder. I've got a good idea of what I want but it is always good to see what works for others. Have a wonderful new year, Regards, Lew |
 | Hi
I am planning to fit D rings myself. Bought the rings and made som stainless backing plates. I will mount them on the bulkhead inbetween the cockpit lockers locks..
I do not know the make of the swim ladder, but I will post a photo of my beautiful transom :-) ... but how do I add photos here? |
| Hi ydalir,
The advice i am getting is that most places are ok for the D rings as long as the backing plate is big enough - how big is the plate that you are using? I intend to mount them on the lockers also, but at the front of the cockpit so they can be reached an clipped onto without fully leaving the cabin so that we are clipped on by the time we get into the cockpit.
I look forward to seeing your beautiful transom but cant help with how to add the photos - it took me all day to work out how to log onto the site and do my first post! |
| Thanks, that is exactly the type of ladder I am after, did you make it or did you buy it?
Regards
Lew |
| BTW, as to the posting a picture; I also didn't know how to ( I was expecting an email to mail the pics), but kind of scavenged ydalir's link and I did it the "Linux" way :) ; go to http://albinballad.multiply.com/photos/(in case this is not a live link, just paste it in your URL box) and proceed from there. There may be another way. Anyhow this works. |
| Thanks for your help guys, I'm going to take the photos to a local fabricator to see if he can make something similar to your ladders. |
 | Hi Aurigny:
You can mount a D-ring anywhere you want on a Ballad; it is an exceptionally strong boat. I have placed several on both the deck and the cabin-top. I run my jacklines, however, from the bow cleat to the stern cleats on the deck. I clip into the jackline, which enables full mobility both fore and aft, and I clip in to the D-rings as appropriate to my position on deck for the work I might be doing at the moment.
You might reconsider mounting a D-ring in the cockpit itself. In heavy weather, you get slammed around in there sometimes, and landing on a big hunk of metal really hurts. Imagine having the full weight of your body come into contact with one, say, at your kneecap. If you do mount a D-ring in there, consider the folding type, and mount it on the cockpit floor with a big backing plate (but even the folding type have a habit of popping open and staying open).
There's really no need to install a D-ring in the cockpit if you're okay with clipping to other hardware: cleats, pulpits, stanchion bases, etc. Admittedly, some people will frown at this suggestion, but I've found that, in real life, when it's hard going, you clip onto whatever happens to be nearest and can be clipped onto one-handed. Sometimes this is a D-ring, sometimes it's around the mast, to a shroud, or even to the lifelines. In the cockpit, I like to clip on to the stern pulpit. Elsewhere on the boat, if I'm worried about clipping on, I generally don't waste time looking for a purpose-made D-ring when something else more, equally, or relatively secure is at hand.
Of course, I'm talking about weather. If you routinely wear a harness, then maybe this doesn't apply to you. But even on a nice day it hurts when you sit on hardware. |
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