Nova Craft Painter Eyes

[PA Tripper]

For serious lining I use a lining bridle. My question is: for light lining or for an anchor point would you trust using these painter eyes?

 

[boatstall]

Not sure how the layup strengthened those areas, but with a large enough backing plate, you should be good.
Also the strength of the eyes will be a determinate. I would think for light lining or anchoring those eyes would not be stressed enough to fail.

 

[PA Tripper]

This is what the inside looks like. A small plate and locking nut. I'm just not sure this would take a lot of stress. The canoe is the new Tuff Stuff layup.

 

[Canotrouge]

You would be surprise at how strong it is.. That said I don't like them and don't use them. I prefer a grab loop made out of tubular webbing going through the hull just bellow the gunnels about 4" back from the ends!

 

[latremorej]

I am with Canot, I like to epoxy a pipe through the hull a few inches back. The hook eye don't look apealing to me. Also, murphy says, if that eye is there, it WILL get used, wether it should or not!

Jason

 

[Guest]

awful high for lining

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Hmmm...my royalex NC canoe just has holes drilled through the hull for the grab loop. Does that not work with Tuff Stuff?

 

[Guest]

You would be surprise at how strong it is.. That said I don't like them and don't use them. I prefer a grab loop made out of tubular webbing going through the hull just bellow the gunnels about 4" back from the ends!

I am not surprised at the strength. I am surprised that Nova Craft would install that ugly pimple on otherwise beautiful canoes.

I installed a SS eyebolt on the bow stem of one of my beater canoes. I was occasionally leaving that boat chained and locked at a lake shore and figured that would make it harder to steal than busting out a thwart or carry handle, or cutting through a plastic deck plate.

It was not a pretty canoe, but it was even uglier with that eye bolt.

I wonder about Nova Crafts functional rational for eye bolt. It is too high for most any lining purpose. For painter lines or bow and stern lines on a vehicle a though stem loop works as well or better as a tie down.

A pipe sleeve or DIY Tugeye plugs are easy enough to install, and can be sealed in place near the cutline if need be.

Original Tugeye with stem loop hand toggle and painter line.

P1220443 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

DIY Tugeye with the same set up. The plastic flange insert is some part from the hardware store electrical aisle, with a piece of Tygon tubing glued inside between the protruding inner stems. It was easiest to Gflex and clamp the flange inserts first, and once that cured bend the Tygon tubing and slip it into place inside the stem over the skanks of the inserts.

P2160542 by Mike McCrea, on Flickr

A little Gflex and a bucks worth of parts. And a can of courage before drilling three quarter inch holes in the hull

 

[Steve in Idaho]

This really does have me curious. All my canoes - RX and composite - simply have holes drilled near the stems for grab loops. One composite has something like Mike's tugeyes, only smaller, but the other is a bare hole in the kev/glass. All the RX canoes have just bare holes. The amount of water entering through that is insignificant, if even measurable - and I have never seen any indication of weakness or wear in the hull or the rope used for the loop. Why would NC go to this trouble for something so ugly and obtrusive, when the holes they used for years worked fine and looked fine? Does Tuff Stuff have some property that makes the old way unworkable?

 

[Bothwell Voyageur]

I posted about this a few years back when TuffStuff first came out. Just looks plain fugly and in the way. What's worse is that if you put a grab loop on there it closes up to a narrow slot when you apply tension rather than staying open as happens with a loop through the hull.

The interesting thing is that the "whitewater" models don't have the eye bolt. They use a hole through the hull.

I suspect the eye bolt was suposed to be some nostalgic reminder of something seen on an old wood-canvas canoe.

 

[Canotrouge]

This really does have me curious. All my canoes - RX and composite - simply have holes drilled near the stems for grab loops. One composite has something like Mike's tugeyes, only smaller, but the other is a bare hole in the kev/glass. All the RX canoes have just bare holes. The amount of water entering through that is insignificant, if even measurable - and I have never seen any indication of weakness or wear in the hull or the rope used for the loop. Why would NC go to this trouble for something so ugly and obtrusive, when the holes they used for years worked fine and looked fine? Does Tuff Stuff have some property that makes the old way unworkable?

Same here, hundreds of canoes with the same set up and never seen a reason to do it differently...
I use tubular webbing as grab loops, easier on the hands, some people shove a piece of plastic tubbing in there to make it stiffer... I don't like it.

 

[lowangle al]

I'm surprised that the boat came like that from the factory. I don't like any protuberances on the hull or decks. If that were my boat I'm sure I would hit my head on it when on a rack, wack my shin on it when on the ground and I'd be lucky not to get my finger stuck in it while pulling the boat up by it and having it shift.

 

[dougd]

. If that were my boat I'm sure I would hit my head on it when on a rack, wack my shin on it when on the ground and I'd be lucky not to get my finger stuck in it while pulling the boat up by it and having it shift.[/QUOTE]

That is exactly what I was thinking. Especially the shin, nothing worse then smacking your shin!

 

[Guest]

I suspect the eye bolt was suposed to be some nostalgic reminder of something seen on an old wood-canvas canoe.

If their intention was some homage to the golden years it could have been accomplished more elegantly for pennies more.

A large diameter brass or even stainless fairlead or pad eye, affixed vertically on the stem would at least have been more aesthetically pleasing, if still closed loop hand unkindly nonfunctional.

I would be detaching that fugly eye bolt post haste, and then trying to figure out what the heck to do with the hole left in the stem.

I have SS eye bolts through several of our vehicle bumpers for ease of bow and stern tie downs, but I do not want that fugly appendage on my canoe.

. If that were my boat I'm sure I would hit my head on it when on a rack, wack my shin on it when on the ground and I'd be lucky not to get my finger stuck in it while pulling the boat up by it and having it shift.

That is exactly what I was thinking. Especially the shin, nothing worse then smacking your shin! [/QUOTE]

Doug, that is exactly why I have dazzle paint stripes and reflective tape on all our rudder blades. That dazzle strip and reflective tape has been 90 percent effective. Less so when I have had a few beers in camp.

 

[gumpus]

This is what the inside looks like. A small plate and locking nut. I'm just not sure this would take a lot of stress. The canoe is the new Tuff Stuff layup.

Hey PA Tripper. Why don't you contact Nova Craft and ask them some questions? Was it designed and tested to handle a certain load? Was it ever tested to failure and if so what did it take to hurt it? Both are kind of basic technical questions. In principle it should have some sort of design target, and testing to failure is also a best practice for understanding one's product. From your photo it looks to have a lock nut so the joint should hold torque well over time...I can imagine that the stresses could jump if the joint was loose.

So the possibilities for using those threaded attachments seem endless. Great anchor points for partial spray decks. Or you could put a headlight up front. Since you have a red 18 Prospector I'd suggest rotating the rear eye bolt 90 degrees and dropping a pirate flag in the stern. FYI if you google "brass eye bolt" you'll see lots of cool options that will make your friends jealous.

 

[wgiles]

My 2015 Nova Craft Pal does not have those eyes. I wasn't aware that they were putting them on the canoes. It does look like a factory job rather than an afterthought.