Boat ladder and carrier assembly

Claim 1

A ladder assembly for attachment beneath the deck of a boat comprising; a carrier including two side elements having opposite forward and rear ends, an end element fixedly spanning said side element rear ends, means mounting said carrier beneath the deck of a boat, a support assembly mounted beneath the boat deck adjacent said carrier forward ends and including transversely disposed top and bottom rods having opposite ends and spaced from one another to provide a ladder receiving clearance therebetween, said top rod disposed in a vertical plane substantially laterally offset forwardly from the vertical plane of said bottom rod, a ladder having two elongated siderails joined by a plurality of steps spaced from one another along the extent of said ladder siderails, said siderails each including a planar top and bottom surface joined to an inner face and provided with opposite front and rear ends, stop means on said ladder siderails adjacent said rear ends, said stop means including a stop member on each said siderail inner face and projecting downwardly beyond said bottom surface, said ladder siderails disposed within said clearance between said support member top and bottom rods, and said ladder shiftable in a substantially horizontal direction from a stowed position atop said carrier with said stop members abutting said carrier end element, to an extended use position inclined downwardly from said support assembly with said ladder stop members abutting said support member bottom rod and said ladder siderail rear end top surfaces abutting said support member top rod.