Any Willard 30's with a swim step?

[kolive]

Kind of wondering if there are any Willard 30's with a swim step. Haven't seen any pics anywhere and wondered if there were any out there.

Keith Olive

 

[markpierce]

Now that would be something to see, considering the shape of the stern.

 

[Conrad]

Hi Keith...yes, at some point in the past I have seen a photo of a Willard 30 with a stern platform. Unfortunately I don't have a photo, but at least I can confirm that it has been done! As I recall, it kind of looked okay.

 

[kolive]

Swim Step

I have ahard time picturing a swim step with the rounded stern but I am messing with some line drawings to see if it could be done to look correctly and be functional. We currently use a boarding ladder from the side to get aboard from our dingy but a swim step could make things a lot easier and maybe safer too in case of accidental falling in by guests or anyone.

 

[Conrad]

Hi again Keith.

If you go to the WillardBoatOwners Yahoo forum, there are some photos of a swim platform.

Once at the site, go to Files/Repairs and Modifications/Dive Platform.

As the name suggests, it is more of a dive platform than a swim platform, meaning that it is quite large.

There may be other photos on the site, but that one was a relatively easy find.

 

[Nomad Willy]

I've seen several I believe on the Willard Groups site. Surely you're on there Keith. Look in the photo section. None are very attractive in my opinion and resale value may be a bit in question but they do exist. Best to have the swim step "deck" of something like expanded metal so a stern wave dos'nt push the stern down much. I have a portable ladder and it works fairly well.

 

[Phil Fill]

Most canoe/fan tail sterns do not have swim decks as the stern is U of V shaped, and do have a stern gate. The Eagle stern is U shaped so we do have a curved teak slat deck with a stern gate. Might be able to have a smaller deck on each side of the V, but not wrap around?

 

[kolive]

Thanks Guys,

I looked at the yahoo site and the dive platform but did not like the looks of it very much. I have not seen one with a platform that seemed to work. I was mostly curious as to whether it is something that might be done. But, bot enough to pursue it seriously. I'll stick with our boarding ladder and continue cruising.

Keith

 

[Peter B]

Keith it definitely can be done for a canoe type stern. We once owned one of these Resort 35s which was also in charter here in Queensland, and they all had a stern door and a boarding platform, which without would have made them much less convenient to board and use with a dinghy, swim etc, so don't necessarily give the idea up.

Resort 35

 

[LarryM]

Swim Step

Keith,

It looks like it has definitely been done before. I found this in my collection of Fales and Willard photos. Someone did a beautiful job on this one.

Larry

 

[kolive]

Swim Step

That's a pretty nice looking swim step. I'll do some sketches and see if it might work for our boat. Still not sure if I want to change the classic lines by adding one or not.

Thanks for the photo.

Keith Olive

 

[Nomad Willy]

Keith,
Think about re-sale, ugliness, perhaps seaworthiness and worst of all.....imagine yourself climbing down to that swim step. Or putting a transom door in a rounded Willard would be expensive or very time consuming.

But in the Willard group there is at least one boat w a door on the side.

 

[kolive]

Eric,

I am thinking the same things. Maybe I shoul dbe asking a different question. We board our dingy and kyaks from a removable boarding ladder off our port side. How do others board dingys etc when they are on the hook?

keith

 

[bshanafelt]

always from the swimstep, which is pretty low to the water, so it makes a nice easy transition into the kayak

 

[Nomad Willy]

We use a folding ladder w "C" shaped hook like tops that fit over the gunwale. It's padded. It works well.

I have thought of using two such ladders (about 4' apart) and having a board much like a swim step between them. Would be really nice for getting into kayaks ect.

 

[AKDoug]

I am new to the board, and don't own a Willard, but I have given it much thought. If the hinges for the "folding swim platform" were long and the platform were shaped like the stern, the cantilever would clear the transom and it would fold up where no water weight would ride on the swim step in a following sea. My thought...

 

[healhustler]

I'm also struggling with the idea of a swim platform, and have been studying others successes and failures. A lot depends on what would make the boat more facilitating of the way you use it. Our boat is delightful in following seas, and we don't want to spoil that, but when we look at the platforms of the Mirage Great Harbor, for example (a similar style to our boat), we can see that for us, the boat would probably double in it's practicality. We love to gunk-hole and explore shallows, and swim whenever we can. Climbing up a skinny ladder and crawling over high gun wales is not as easy as it once was. We'd probably double or triple our weekend use of the boat if it were also our platform for swimming at a nearby cove or one of the sand bars in Biscayne Bay.

We're planning for the loop in 2014, and the Admiral says she wants to visit marinas along the route at least 1/3rd of the time. That means we'd be paying for the length of the platform at most marina stops. So now it's either forget it, make it foldable, or at least easily removable. Maybe someone will eventually design a new dinghy that conforms to any stern and doubles as a stylish and unobtrusive swim platform.

 

[AKDoug]

Swim Step

I bid on the 2001 Willard in Seattle, it was priced beyond appraisal. My plan is to build the platform out of stainless tubing, and to hinge it on long supports from the stern so the step swings up and in to fill the curve of the hull. I plan on enough open water to not want the concern of water riding up on a swim platform and the open frame should shed stern water well enough. Now I am looking at the 1999 in Virginia

 

[Codger2]

always from the swimstep, which is pretty low to the water, so it makes a nice easy transition into the kayak

We do the same thing and when we're running, we just put the kayak in the cockpit.

 

[AusCan]

Not a Willard - but the swimstep which came on my boat certainly takes away from the nice lines of the stern. It is fairly easily removed though as it is just clamped to the rear boarding ladder. I'll see how much I use it before deciding if it stays or goes. I would have to say that it's butt ugly.

 

[Peter B]

Not a Willard - but the swimstep which came on my boat certainly takes away from the nice lines of the stern. It is fairly easily removed though as it is just clamped to the rear boarding ladder. I'll see how much I use it before deciding if it stays or goes. I would have to say that it's butt ugly.

The duckboard on the resort version is a nicer design I think. No reason why you could not get similar made for the Cuddles 30, or the Willard for that matter. Both have similar canoe stern.
Church Point Charter

 

[psneeld]

I'm also struggling with the idea of a swim platform, and have been studying others successes and failures. A lot depends on what would make the boat more facilitating of the way you use it. Our boat is delightful in following seas, and we don't want to spoil that, but when we look at the platforms of the Mirage Great Harbor, for example (a similar style to our boat), we can see that for us, the boat would probably double in it's practicality. We love to gunk-hole and explore shallows, and swim whenever we can. Climbing up a skinny ladder and crawling over high gun wales is not as easy as it once was. We'd probably double or triple our weekend use of the boat if it were also our platform for swimming at a nearby cove or one of the sand bars in Biscayne Bay.

We're planning for the loop in 2014, and the Admiral says she wants to visit marinas along the route at least 1/3rd of the time. That means we'd be paying for the length of the platform at most marina stops. So now it's either forget it, make it foldable, or at least easily removable. Maybe someone will eventually design a new dinghy that conforms to any stern and doubles as a stylish and unobtrusive swim platform.

I've been at marinas now for 60 nights on this trip and yet have paid extra because of my swim platform/pulpit. Most just ask what your length is and if it's remotely believable...that's what they write down.

One thing is about length of stay...spend time at a face dock or need a longer slip because of it you might pay....but as an overnight or two transient...no extra at least for us yet. And one place (Isle of Hope in Savannah we stayed 15 days).

So far I have been pleasantly surprised at marina costs off season north of Florida....I have been at many that were only charging $1.00 per foot or even less sometimes if I stayed a couple nights.

Maybe it is because most of the marinas aren't nearly full ...and there's hardly any transients during the off peak snowbird season....seems like they are bending over backward to get the business.

 

[AusCan]

Something like this would practical for swimming, but I would expect it to be a pain in a following sea. And messing up the fine lines of the stern to install a transom door? - It's just wrong.
I prefer the look of a G-string on a nice butt, rather than bloomers.

 

[Alexis699]

I've been at marinas now for 60 nights on this trip and yet have paid extra because of my swim platform/pulpit. Most just ask what your length is and if it's remotely believable...that's what they write down.

One thing is about length of stay...spend time at a face dock or need a longer slip because of it you might pay....but as an overnight or two transient...no extra at least for us yet. And one place (Isle of Hope in Savannah we stayed 15 days).

So far I have been pleasantly surprised at marina costs off season north of Florida....I have been at many that were only charging $1.00 per foot or even less sometimes if I stayed a couple nights.

Maybe it is because most of the marinas aren't nearly full ...and there's hardly any transients during the off peak snowbird season....seems like they are bending over backward to get the business.

I am totally agree with you.You are 100% good here that most of the marinas are not nearly complete.And there's hardly any transients during the off optimum snowbird season.
I agreed what is said above!!!

 

[AKDoug]

The best fix I have found for boarding kayaks is to switch to sit-on-top models where you just stand on them and then sit down. I sit on the rail, put my feet in/on the boat, then stand up and sit down, being careful not to spill my drink I have a swim platform but it is too close to the water to be dry getting into a sit-in kayak. I watch my friends with sit-ins get their butt wet almost every time they go, either from traveling, rain, boat wakes, or even the dew. If you were REALLY kayaking, you wouldn't need a boat to carry it on. I am satisfied with plunking along in an unsinkable plastic buoy shaped like a boat that is easy to get on or off of, especially handy when the waves are breaking on the beach.

 

[Codger2]

The best fix I have found for boarding kayaks is to switch to sit-on-top models where you just stand on them and then sit down. .... I am satisfied with plunking along in an unsinkable plastic buoy shaped like a boat that is easy to get on or off of, especially handy when the waves are breaking on the beach.