About the ladder, I will look for the information. It has metal steps which, being weighted, cause it to sink so your feet can grab on to it. Clips attach to the lifeline. As for placement, this last summer I tested it to see how difficult it was to climb aboard using the ladder. It does need to be amidship, more or less alongside the aft cabin window because of the shape of the boat bottom. When placed too far aft, as I had it originally next to the cockpit, the ladder, with me on it, went under the boat and I had too much trouble getting vertical lift. That is also why I detached the water activated for the pfd because I found the expanded pfd made it difficult to crawl back on board (I am 6'2" and approx, very approx. 200 lbs.- or I have been in this general area for the past few years, more or less, if you know what I mean). It might be different for a smaller or lighter individual.

Your idea of an inflatable floatation boat, or whatever sounds neat. How about using one of these lightweight inflatable air mattresses as a blow up inflatable device, if there is such a thing, to carry with you along with the pfd in a pouch. Perhpaps they are too big. The extra gear could also be contained in the ladder bag and attached to the ladder.

Perhaps the answer is to have, along with the pfd, a small pack/pouch/container that has what you need in distress - line, VHF, something inflatable that could be crawled up on to stay out of the water and give a boost to get back on deck - the concept being like those inflatable throw rings, but the design being to get you completely out of the water.

As for dragging an inflatable, they give too much drag. You don't get anywhere dragging them with a boat the size of and Ariel. However, I didn't lose much speed with the Walker Bay plastic dinghy. For cruising (where a dinghy is mandatory to get to shore) dragging a dinghy is a now brainer. For day sailing, no one has a dinghy, so always dragging one is not practical.

Since last night, and with your additional information, I too have been thinking more about this. What I am considering is to run a light nylon line on the inside edge of the gunwale - going through the "butresses" on the stanchion bases. On the port side of the boat one end of the line would be connected to the fitting for the aft end of the lifeline. Going then around the bow along the gunwale to the starboard side, it would lead at the aft end to the outboard motor well (This assumes you have an OB, but something like this could be rigged for an inboard as well). Inside the well it would be attached to a spring to keep the line taut. Continuing with the line, it would then go to the dead man plug for the outboard. So if I fell overboard, and could reach to the inside edge of the gunwale , I could grab that line, yank hard, and the motor would stop.

Going further, that line would be attached to the pull line of the ladder on either side, so if there was a yank on either ladder pull line, it would stop the engine.

Going further, I was thinking I could rig a line from the string attached to the gunwale line branching towards the aft end on the starboard side, over the coaming, and wrapped around the loose end of the plunger. If the line was pulled sharply, so as to stop the motor, the string would also pull the autohelm plunger off the pivot pin on the tiller, and the tiller would be free. If you were sailing, the boat should come into the wind. Otherwise, in a worse case scenario, perhaps you could use your feet on the rudder itself to turn and stop the boat.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Is this a pie in the sky idea?

Peter