Transom Grab Handle

[joe.baar]

Some photos of the grab handle project.

The handle is Gillig bus part number 45-02137-011. I chose it over the various available marine handles because of its larger diameter, large-radiused ends and lack of welded-stud attachments; and over the various available ADA bathroom fixtures because of its simple, direct attachment and lack of cosmetic collars.

The backing plate is 3/4" marine plywood and the stays are 3/8" ss threaded rod screwed into ss barrel nuts on the transom side. The hatch is color-matched laminate over birch door-skin material backed by plywood to fit the opening. Gasket material around the hatch and behind the strongback is shower-pan PVC greased both sides with Super-Lube. Other openings, including the handle's bearing on the transom, are gasketed with similarly greased neoprene washers and having fabricated Starboard wedge-washers where needed to configure to angled surfaces.

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[jcollins]

Looks good. Thanks for sharing.

[DougSea]

What's the function of the rods across the well? Extra support of the handle seems unlikely so I'm wondering if you use them for some kind of storage.

Looks like a very nice job all around!

[joe.baar]

Doug,
Those rods are what I call "stays" since they act like locomotive boiler stays that hold the firebox in position within the boiler. Their purpose in this case is to tie together the transom, lazarette (bait box) sides, and the after cockpit bulkhead so instead of acting as 4 separate sheets of thin fiberglass all the materials work together as a single 5/8" thick unit, or as close as I can come to that. The intent is not so much to resist the force of a 600 lb person trying to climb back onto the swim step, as to resist the pull of a dinghy that capsizes at speed and suddenly fills with water. I just didn't want my transom pulled off under those circumstances. My engineering skills are self-taught and I was afraid to calculate or test how much force such an event would generate so I tried to overbuild the system as much as I dared without making it look too clunky. The rods are covered by that slit pvc tubing they use to protect wire rope lifelines, and indeed they do make a usable shelf, of sorts. Thanks for your interest, Doug.

[DougSea]

Well thought out Joe. I must confess the "Dingy flips, fills with water (at speed), rips the transom off" scenario could give one pause! "Honey, where's the back of the boat? Oh, never mind, it's back there with the dingy." You must have seen John's "The front fell off" video!!

I never drilled through the transom of our 28 that far up from the waterline. Based on your 5/8" comment I'm assuming the core doesn't extend up that far. And over engineering is always better than under engineering.

Again, nice work.

[joe.baar]

Doug,
The transom itself was about 1/4" thick where I drilled it. I did not see any evidence of core material up there, and below the level of that hatch I didn't see any apparent thickening where coring might have been added. If it's there it must be tapered into the transom, or I missed seeing it entirely mostly because it might be lower, like only up as far as the waterline level. The lazarette/bait box is "insulated" with that pinkish foam sheet stuff, but it's just roughly stuck on the box's outside and surely doesn't do too much insulating. Anyway, thanks for your kind words.

[DougSea]

Joe,

I find myself looking for a handle similar to the one you used. I tried looking for the part number but I couldn't find it. Do you have a website to go along with the number?

Thanks!

[joe.baar]

DougSea,
Sorry for the delay. There is a web site, just google Gillig or try parts-sales(at)gillig.com. I was NOT able to order this part on line, however, and the only way to actually **see** the drawing is to have Gillig's CD for their 43' 30-ton hybrid coaches, model # G30-D102N4. Sooo, what you probably need to do is actually call Gillig's parts division at 800-735-1500 or (510) 785-1500. I also have a note that I talked with Roy there at (510) 264-5160. They're in Hayward, CA so you'll need to take Pacific Daylight Time into consideration. They asked me what company I was with and my admission that I was on my own and could be considered the "project manager" was sufficient for them. Finally, I did discover these grab rails are actually fabricated by a San Francisco company that's an "on demand" subcontractor to Gillig so there was no warehouse stock. Unfortunately I seem to have lost the shipping label that contained information about that company so your order will still need to go through Gillig. Again, the Gillig part number is 45-02137-011 for a "Handle, Grab" priced at $65.00 in October 2011 with delivery promised in 3 weeks - turned out more like 2 weeks. Good luck with this, Doug.

[DougSea]

Thanks Joe!

That's quite a bunch of steps you went through for a grab handle!! Thanks for all of the info.

[joe.baar]

Doug,
Yes, a lot of steps but the handle is SUCH a perfect configuration I just could not resist. And anyway, what else would I do with my time? As we say in Accounting, "That's Accounting". It was also interesting to investigate a very small chunk of the "industrial" economy, as opposed to the "consumer" side that we usually deal with.

[Cape Codder]

I really like what you have done with the transom grab handle.
What we use for climbing up the swim ladder etc. is NOT so sophisticated!!!

We only deploy this when we are swimming or plan on using the inflatable back and forth to the dock and transient mooring, but it works pretty cool.

http://www.amazon.com/Helping-Handle-Ba ... B004HIGWLW

[DougSea]

I really like what you have done with the transom grab handle.
What we use for climbing up the swim ladder etc. is NOT so sophisticated!!!

We only deploy this when we are swimming or plan on using the inflatable back and forth to the dock and transient mooring, but it works pretty cool.

http://www.amazon.com/Helping-Handle-Ba ... B004HIGWLW

I have two of those I bought at West Marine, for only $10ea! They're great for temporary handholds, I use one next to my boarding ladder and I put a second under the hardtop on whatever side is up against the dock.