Help : Wheelchair Access Door for 1989 Seafarer

[Petnetwork Animal Health]

I need help to install a "Tuna door" big enough to roll a wheelchair thru. The Grady is "Ocean Enabled" a 501(C)3 charity. Our belief:

"The ocean provides the brain saving magic of new experiences and ocean freedom for special needs kids. Our mission is getting them out there."

I know better than to attempt to make this myself, I can't cut a straight line but I'm at the ploit where I will because I have a hoist but it's just not comforting to the parents hoisting heir kid in. Is there someplace that installs these? Any kits, templates or suggestions?

My best chance to get this done is to take the boat to Rosarito ,Mexico where I found a place that will do it for $2500.

If anyone would like to contribute:

Special Needs | Ocean Enabled | Dana Point

At Ocean Enabled We provide ocean freedom for special needs kids! The ocean provides the brain saving magic of new experiences and ocean freedom for special needs kids. Our mission is getting them out there.

ocean-enabled.com

 

[seasick]

I would be skeptical about $2500 job for the amount of work it would require. You need at least 36 inches clear opening and I cant imaging a spot on that hull where such an opening could be cut without compromising the hull's integrity
A better approach would be a wheelchair davit style hoist on the dock to lift a wheelchair over the gunnel. By installing one at the dock, multiple boats could take advantage of it.

 

[glacierbaze]

Wasn't there a lengthy thread here a couple of months ago, with a different user name?

 

[Petnetwork Animal Health]

I would be skeptical about $2500 job for the amount of work it would require. You need at least 36 inches clear opening and I cant imaging a spot on that hull where such an opening could be cut without compromising the hull's integrity
A better approach would be a wheelchair davit style hoist on the dock to lift a wheelchair over the gunnel. By installing one at the dock, multiple boats could take advantage of it.

In Mexico you get at least 3 times as much work for the same money as here. That would be strengthening the transom and sides as well.
Where the boat is you are not allowed to attach anything to the docks. I understand about the size door but it's an '89 and I'm willing to try it. I have a hoist on the boat put the parents don't like it . Most of the kids don't mind it.

 

[DennisG01]

That's certainly a great reason to cut your boat! You're not going to find any type of "kit" available - this is all custom work. I don't know of any place to recommend but I'm relatively up to speed on general costs of things. IF you can find someone to do that in the States (that's a big, structural project), it's going be much more than $2,500. Much more. If that's a legitimate price for quality work, that sounds like one heck of a deal.

 

[glacierbaze]

Picture of the hoist?

 

[seasick]

Wasn't there a lengthy thread here a couple of months ago, with a different user name?

Yes.

 

[Holokai]

Depending on the weight of the kid and how low that door is cut in relation to the waterline there’s a good chance of water entering when loading/offloading. If the door is high enough to keep the water out it won’t be much different than lifting over the gunnels. The 208 is a pretty small boat to be trying that in but if you have $2500 to burn then go for it. Please report back so we all can learn as it would be nice to have a functional door on my 208 versus pulling yellowfin over the rail.

 

[Punchline Cap]

Is the boat trailered or in a slip? If in a slip would a handicap hoist like used at swimming pools work? Could it be something requested at a municipal owned ramp? Anyway good luck in your very noble cause.

 

[Petnetwork Animal Health]

Depending on the weight of the kid and how low that door is cut in relation to the waterline there’s a good chance of water entering when loading/offloading. If the door is high enough to keep the water out it won’t be much different than lifting over the gunnels. The 208 is a pretty small boat to be trying that in but if you have $2500 to burn then go for it. Please report back so we all can learn as it would be nice to have a functional door on my 208 versus pulling yellowfin over the rail.

It's a 228 Seafarer. Maybe I could transport them to a folding or smaller wheelchair to board

 

[DennisG01]

I was thinking more about this and, in my opinion, it would be a mistake to do this. First, the opening you're talking about is probably about twice the size of a tuna door. Secondly, and most importantly, you're cutting away a big portion of the boat and weakening it's structural integrity. On a hull that's not designed for it, I'd be VERY wary of it... to the point I wouldn't do it - and I wouldn't trust something done in another country where your recourse would be very limited, if not completely non-existant.

 

[Holokai]

It's a 228 Seafarer. Maybe I could transport them to a folding or smaller wheelchair to board

Apologies for the typos (I have a 208 so I automatically type that instead of 228). A 228 is definitely bigger than a 208 but I still wouldn’t put a full size door on it. Maybe a half-height door will work along with the smaller wheelchair; something like the Edencraft boats out of Australia have.

I agree with Dennis that the door isn’t the most recommended route. I would lean toward a portable davit that can be used on other boats as well. The base might need to be customized to allow for reaching from the dock to boat but a weld/fabrication shop could do that pretty easily. You don’t want to compromise the seaworthiness of your boat, no matter how well-intentioned the reasons for modifying.

 

[glacierbaze]

Speaking as someone with several special needs individuals in my family, I think I said something similar in the other thread, but I'll say it again, Do it right, or don't do it at all.
Nobody wants to see their special needs child hoisted from a dock to a boat, by a stranger with any kind of hoist, no matter how good their intentions. Or riding around in a 33 year old boat, with a big door cut to near the waterline, by somebody in Mexico. I can't believe that your liability insurance company would like to see it either.
I hope that your hoist, at least, is a platform that the chair sits on, and that you are not picking anyone up by the chair. I see a block and tackle, that looks like a pot hauler, in your video. And nobody wants to transfer their child to another chair and back, to get on and off.
You need a boat(s) with a bow ramp, or a gangway to a flush deck, if you are loading kids in wheelchairs. How many boats, and how many different drivers are we talking about, anyway? If I want to book a charter fishing trip, most websites tell me about the boats in the fleet, and the experience, and qualifications, of their captains. I don't see any of that on yours, although I did see a number of ways to donate.
I don't mean to bust your chops, unless you deserve it, but your website could be a lot more informative.

 

[Petnetwork Animal Health]

We are literally just getting started. We load now at the launch ramps where the top of the rail is about even with the dock, most times it's Not too difficult of a task to get them on the boat, not always. We've been helped by the local Coast Guard and Harbor Patrol. This Seafarer sat for 25 years stored and only had 400 hours on her The new motor is a year old with low hours. We have a licensed Captain, a recent Harbor Patrol officer . The Mexican shipyard came highly recommended from a couple Grady White owners across the country and I've checked out some of their previous projects and they build solid boats.

I do sincerely appreciate someone who puts me on a right track. I like other's perspectives and advice/criticism. If it helps me, I'm all for it and you have brought up some items I need to hear. If it's a big group the Dana Warf fleet handles it. They are a great source of information too.
The donation thing I'm kind of uncomfortable with. I don't feel comfortable asking for funding which I'm sure is why I'm the sole donor so far
The motor that came with the boat I had purring but it was too smokey being a 1989 2 stroke. Happy to say that motor with 400 hours on it is now pushing Wounded Warriors around fishing a big pontoon boat in Utah. Those guys gave me my first tips on how to do this.
There is one reason I am doing this. A close friends little girl was born with cerebral palsy and had never been able to hold her head up, that is until her aunt wanted to see how she would like boating on the ocean. Her name is Sophia and when she's out on the boat in the waves going fast she holds her head up and yells 'faster faster!" I want to see what reactions other kids in her situation would have to seeing a dolphin for the first time. It's friggin fun!

 

[seasick]

I just happened to run across this example of a lift.