Many Rubber Boats Have No Ladder: Undercurrent 01/2026

Many Rubber Boats Have No Ladder

from the January, 2026 issue of Undercurrent

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Rubber Boat

Without dismissing what became a terrible tragedy, we should note that RIBs are widely used to transport divers from land and liveaboards, and most have no ladders at all.

Thirty years ago, when I was younger and more fit, I was an expeditionary dive guide and worked with a big RIB that typically had no ladder. I noted that elderly women tend to have a lower center of gravity than men of the same age and with less upper-body strength, and often have difficulty climbing up and over the sponsons (tubes). I found it necessary to perfect a technique to propel such women into the boat. It involved me submerging below them and using both my own buoyancy and the strength of my arms, holding onto the grab ropes, to give them the required lift over the tubes. Maybe in today's Me Too environment, my technique might not be so acceptable, but I remember no one complaining about me helping them board the RIB at the time....

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