I do sometimes enjoy a dip in the pond to relax and get some exercise swimming. (I will enjoy it more, I think, after I have a chance to test the pond water to make sure everything is safe, but I’m still working on that.)

And what better place to enter the pond from than the floating house? I can change clothes inside, and then I can leave a towel on the balcony to dry off after the swim. But how to get in and out of the water?

I decided to order a pool ladder and mount it in a way that it can be removed when we unmoor the house and let it move around the pond. (I’ve been trying to keep its size down by not hanging things off the sides.)

Here are some pictures of the shiny new stainless steel ladder mounted into the balcony:

You’ll notice in the above picture the wooden spacers that were added to the ladder where it rests against the pontoons. The bottom of the ladder that would normally rest against the side of a pool is much lower than the pontoons below the house, so these were added to support the ladder. It seems to work quite well.

And here is a shot from the other side of the pond:

Besides that ladder, you can also see the “green wall” of cattails on the side of the bathroom. They are continuing to grow out quite nicely, but still not thick enough to obscure someone who is changing clothes. I am figuring that in another 6 months to a year, they may be dense enough to provide sufficient privacy. But in the meantime, I will probably mount a Japanese style bamboo curtain that can drop down. It could also be permanent if they never grow dense enough, which is possible given that the planter box that they are planted in may not be big enough for this. We’ll just have to wait and see.