Eric Johnson, #635

#635 has her gates between the pushpit and the first stanchion and this seems to work out very well. I think the side decks are too narrow for safe transit for many people. Although it is not always comfortable to sit on the edge of the coaming, and the varnish may occasionally take a ding, I find it to be more secure to enter the bouncing dingy from a sitting position where my feet can reach the bottom of the dink and I can transition with both hands and feet well secured and the dingy fully in control.

Although I don't spend a lot of time tied to the dock, I do use it to collect and discharge the occasional party and I have never had any issues stepping on or off. I usually hang the aft fender from the first stanchion (the forward end of the gate), so that determines the distance to the dock at that point. I generally fix the aft dock line so that the gap is well controlled and then adjust the line(s) forward and the forward fender accordingly. Actually, this makes it sound more fussy than it really is--I just tie it up and go without ceremony and the little gap has never been an issue with either small kids or grandparents.

Of course, the gate at this location would be an issue with lee cloths and/or boom tent rigged, but our little boats are a compromise in so many ways. Getting forward around my dodger with a tent in place is not what I would call convenient, but, I do manage it.

Rob Squire, #96, Head Over Heels

I put 3 stantions on Head over Heels, one about the forward end of the cockpit, one about amidship and the last forward of the stays. I open the section between the midship and cockpit with the clasp aft.