Man stands beside red ladder which has a yellow bag attached to it. This is new ladder design at Buckler's Hard Yacht Harbour

Two new-style emergency ladders have been placed on the visitors’ pontoon at Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour, as well as at the bottom of the gangway leading to the marina. Members of staff can now take them with them while answering any calls for assistance.

The new design — essentially the ladder’s mobility — was created after the team reviewed incidents, procedures, and equipment. While the team says the provision of emergency ladders at the harbour exceeded guidelines, improvements could be made to make rescues easier.

Thus, deputy harbour master Adam Lewis worked with the Beaulieu River team to create a new design for the marina’s safety ladder.

“If someone falls in the water, the panic which can follow means that both the person in the water and their friends or partners can struggle to locate installed emergency ladders easily,” explains Lewis.

“So what we wanted to create was a mobile ladder which we could attach anywhere in the marina and is available for anyone to use. I also wanted to make it long enough so they could stand on the bottom rung without having to bend their legs, which makes it as easy as possible to climb out of the water.

“Experience has shown that entering cold water has a debilitating effect on strength and flexibility. Combine this with an inflated life jacket and it becomes a real struggle to climb some ladders, where you have to get your foot up on to a ladder rung 50cm below the surface of the water.

“What we made in the end was a two-metre long, lightweight ladder with an additional ribbed stainless steel flat bar on the top to allow it to be hooked over a cleat on a pontoon. You are never more than four metres from where we can put the ladder. It is also slightly angled when hooked onto a cleat, making it easier to climb.”

The new style of marina safety ladder has also been fitted with a buoyant man overboard sling, which can be clipped around the casualty to keep them safe if a member of staff needs to call for help or alert emergency services. This is not the first time that marina staff have been inspired to take safety matters into their own hands and invented solutions, like the safety alert rope developed by Paul Williams.

“We have tried and tested our new style of ladders, and they are proving very successful,” says Lewis. “Casualties can climb the ladders with no difficulty, and we can get them out of the water in a short space of time.”

Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour was recently ranked as one of the UK’s best marinas by being placed in the top five per cent of 5 Gold Anchors winners by The Yacht Harbour Association. The Beaulieu River marina was the first to be assessed under a new scoring system and received an outstanding 95.06 per cent.

A £2m redevelopment of the boatshed is providing new opportunities for marine-based businesses to relocate. Planned upgrades will provide new waterfront offices, workshop units, and meeting rooms, which will be available to rent starting in spring 2025.

Notes of interest are now being taken, says the company, and preference will be given to tenants who provide value-added services for owners of boats on the marina’s 200 fully-serviced walk-ashore pontoon berths and 300 river moorings.

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