I can't really change the deck to move the ladder forward too much without putting stress on any overhanging portion of the deck, so I'm thinking that I have two options (three if I send the ladder back).

Option 1:

I could do like Matt said and find a way to distribute the weight over the floor and cove. I've looked to see if there is some kind of molded plastic that someone has already come up with to do this, but I haven't had any luck so far. I'm not sure I want to use wood for this since it will be forever under water.



Option 2:

I could saw off the back portion of the ladder at the same angle as the cove, and round off all the edges. In addition, I could use one of those ladder mats underneath it. This would help distribute the weight throughout the ladder. Of course, this would void any warranty that comes with the ladder, but I'm not sure a warranty on a molded ladder is really that big a deal.



Barring finding something relatively quickly that I could use to put under the ladder, I'm leaning toward option 2.