Mike - Good thinking! Your idea has several advantages to it. Sitting here this morning looking at what I have so far, trying to think about how your ideas might fit in.

Looking at the ladder picture (thx for the link - so many pictures here it's hard to keep track of them ), I think that's one of the ones I saw which got me thinking about the steps. Looks nicely done, and not overly intrusive, if at all. I've measured a line from the bridgedeck (interior front edge) and it's right at 4'. Since there are several different readily-available, collapsible transom ladders that size, and although it probably won't look as nice as yours, it should be an easy project.

Also in that picture, it looks like there is a cut-out in the aft bulkhead, at the foot of the port berth. What was that for? I'm going to empty that locker this weekend and make some measurements for the foot-end of a sea berth. I'm wondering if I will be able to size it so that a moveable bin/drawer that would fit there would also fit into my under-counter area.