Alcanboats Forum

PART 1

I wanted a westcoast style aluminum swim platform for the boat, so I thought I'd give it a try.
Swim platforms often seem to be mounted high off the water for sterndrive clearance which makes it less use-able for swimming and also cuts off access to the drive.
I decided to cut a hole in the platform and mount it low. Because there won't be enough depth for mounting below, I will make a couple of upper braces.
The first thing was to bend a perimeter. This is done with 6063 bendable grade aluminum. This just bends cold with a hydraulic bender - no heating required.

PART 2

Sheetmetal (3/16") cut to size and welded in. An angled piece to match the transom was welded along the edge, and two 4" wide "C" channels were welded to mount the angle brackets on. Two smaller "L" angles were also added. Hole for sterndrive clearance cut out. Factory ladder was trimmed off and will be modified more in future.
The transom is 1/4" thick and was fairly wavy, so I will be making some spacers out of black Starboard as the back of the swimgrid is straight.

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Hi Jay,
Nice job on the new swimgrid!
It is interesting to see how easily you were able to bend the "right alloy" aluminum tube.
My swimgrid is wood, but is a constant maintenance chore. My next one will be aluminum, (perhaps with some way to incorporate easily replaceable wooden strips for non-slip).
BTW, the "wavy" transom seems to be a characteristic of all these boats. I know that mine is like that and I have helped with installing a swimgrid on another one that was just the same.
Rob