Re: Swim ladder, mounted or detached?
My assessment of detachable swim ladders is this:
1. They're better and generally safer than no ladder at all for inexperienced boaters...and there always seems to be at least one inexperienced or minimally experienced boater in the boat/water.
2. They can be difficult to use because they are not particularly stable unless they are custom designed to fit your boat.
3. They can be difficult to master for extremely large people or very young people. It takes practice to learn how to climb the ladder and stabilize it at the same time.
4. Often, for storage purposes, the ladders are so short that the bottom rung is not low enough in the water for swimmers to use easily.
5. The design and/or stability problems are magnified when the skier or swimmer is exhausted from being in the water a long time.
