Bill, I am completely aware that rope ladders do not work in the water, suspended from the hull or the beam. It is just that Wouter mentioning the word "ladder" made a light bulb go off in my mind -- the answer is not stepping, it is climbing.

I sail a Hobie Wave, which has unique problems. It has no dolphin striker. It has no trapeze handles to get hold of. And it has a lot of freeboard. Even if you have a "step" suspended in the water at the main beam, you have nothing above to get hold of to give you enough leverage to get back onto the boat. You cannot grab the mast high enough to be of help, because the sail is in the way. Women usually are not able to reach the hiking strap, and even if they can, they still do not have the strength or leverage to pull themselves back on the boat at that angle.

So it finally dawned on me that what I need to do is put an eye strap on the front of the mast up about 4 or 5 feet. From that eye strap I can suspend either a narrow rope ladder or a rope with big knots in it -- something to give me the ability to pull myself up onto the boat.

I have always known that I can right my boat easily but that I am totally incapable of getting back aboard after it is righted. I feel better now that I have come up with this solution, which I suppose should have been intuitive.

Next time I sail, I will try it out, just to gain peace of mind about being able to self-rescue myself. It is also comforting to be able to get back on your boat quickly when you are in waters that are infested with either sharks or alligators.