Swimming Ladder and Boat

[BoyoBoyle]

Ok, Im about to purchase a twelve foot alumacraft jon boat. Im not sure on the size, but Im guessing it's either a 32 or 36. Well Im buying this boat not only because I love to fish, but I also bought it so me and my girlfriend can go camping and boating with it. Now, she really loves swimming off boats and so do I, so I really wanna put a ladder on this boat so we can go swimming and get back into the boat safely.

Ok. My plan for the boat is this... I want to put in some flooring, probably 4 inches off the bottom. I want to hollow out the middle seat to use it as storage and probably where I'l keep my battery (might have two). Im putting a 40lb trolling motor on the rear. Il put one seat on the rear bench, and one on the flooring between the front and middle bench.

Now... I really want to go swimming off this boat so i want a small ladder. Im just worried about this being a bad idea because the boat might not be stable enough. I want to probably put the ladder off the front end right in the middle. Because typically a lot of the weight is in the back. And maybe while one person is getting in the other can hold onto the back to keep it stable, or if they're in the boat, they can sit in the rear seat. I just hope this would be possible with only a 12' boat.

Thanks guys!

 

[Andy]

I don't see why you couldn't put a ladder on the front. I'll sit on the front of my 1232 and "walk" it through shallow water without getting any water in the boat. My daughter would also sit on the front with her feet in the water with me in the back while fishing, never had a problem. I'm right around 180 lbs and she's around 110 to give you an idea.

 

[free jonboat]

Should be fine. I climbed into my 10 foot jonboat (not wide or deep) from the rear right side (I was in a hurry) and I only took on about a liter of water, so if you climbed into a 12 footer from the front then you should be just fine.

 

[Specknreds]

I'm not sure how far you would like to take it, but I built pods for my boat and I just came off a weeks vacation spending everyday in it fishing and swimming. The pods made a great stable platform to dive off of and to get back aboard. I have seen several pods that step up to the boat. It would be easy to add a single fold down step off the pod. I just stepped on the cavitation plate and then on the pod.

Just a suggestion, It would be a lot more work verses a ladder off the front. You can see my pods by clicking on my boat on the home page.