Walking the plank

Alan England looks for a safer way of getting aboard

- Alan England

While the captain of a Royal Navy warship is greeted with the tweet of the bosun’s whistle when he steps up the gangplank to board his ship, we mere mortals attempting to get on board our pride and joy usually make do with nothing extravagant unless we own a superyacht.

A while ago my stern safety line gave way on my 1990 Moody 376, Linga Linga.

Following a triple backward somersault I departed from the stern of Linga Linga’s deck into the ogin, and despite a high score from the judges I was sadly not selected for the Olympic diving team.

Fortunately for me I was able to climb on board Linga Linga using my stern boarding ladder, which I always have positioned so it’s easily accessible to lower and climb up, especially as I’d noticed that the safety ladder on my pontoon was unusable due to being blocked by the fender of a selfish motor boat owner. You need to be prepared for all eventualities on a boat.

Having got over the shock of my escapade I analysed the situation and gave my thanks to how I ended up in the sea without sustaining serious head injury on my neighbour’s yacht. The safety line has since been replaced, I hasten to add.

I think 25% of boat owners on my pontoon have ended up in the water, usually when getting on or off the boat. Reasons have included loss of balance, the boarding plank breaking due to the failure of the owner to diet, simple failure of the plank, or the plank going up and down like the proverbial yo-yo due to selfish boat owners exceeding the 3-knot speed limit in the channel.