The problem with swim ladders is that they will hug the hull when you stand on them. A rope ladder may have you standing enough "inside" the waterline that you're leaning backward and can't climb out. It can also be hard to keep your toe over the tread as it pushes away and up against the hull. You will be tired and heavy if you need to climb out.

A rope ladder might do if each (rigid) tread had something at each end to stand it off the hull. I don't recall seeing such. Solid ladders usually have a standoff at the bottom that keeps all the treads in place.

One Fleet 1 sailor (?) was able to climb up his outboard, and that is my plan if I fall in.

tc 419

:: I recently bought a used 2002 Santana 22 .
::
:: I will be sailing the boat in the south part of San
:: Francisco Bay, a more benign area than the upper and
:: central part of the Bay,doing day sailing only. A
:: problem comes because my wife is definitely not
:: interested in sailing; therefore I often must go out
:: solo during the week. I am 72, so am more cautious than
:: the younger guys, both because of balance limitations
:: and because it would be difficult to pull myself back
:: into the boat were I to end up in the drink. The natural
:: thing (beyond the harness I use whenever I am out alone,
:: thanks to a padeye in the cockpit) is to have a swim
:: ladder to get myself back into the boat.
::
:: The commercial ones are wide; the Santana 22's stern is
:: narrow at the sides and putting any "pullable" ladder in
:: the well with the motor is impractical. I don't have
:: stanchions, and putting a collapsible ladder on the deck
:: is impractical. I know of the device ($200) that
:: contains, in a bag, plastic triangles attached to the
:: collapsible ladder, with a trailing rope; the idea is
:: that it hangs from the shrouds, I guess. But what I
:: wonder is if any of you are aware of any swim ladder
:: that would be more practical than that?