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Tugeyes??

It has occurred to me that locking a boat through a thwart or carrying handle is not particularly secure ( unscrew one end and gone), but a hole would be.
 
Hi Dave, I played with the idea but couldn't bring myself to drill a hole in my canoe. The way I figure, if I need to line it I'll just rig that "bridle" of rope that brings the line down to where it needs to be. I seem to remember it illustrated in one of the Mason books (?).

As far as security goes, just my opinion, I really try not to leave my canoe anywhere some low life scum can get at it. The guy who would take it isn't a canoer but a thief, and wouldn't pause to saw out the part of the bow that was slowing him down.

Best Wishes, Rob
 
Hi Dave;
If my memory serves me well, I've only tracked and lined once on a trip. Using a simple rope bridle nearer the seats, both bow and stern, worked well. The Tugeye locations would not be in the ideal placement for control (too near bow and stern). That's my 2 cents anyway. I'm also not sure a bicycle cable through a Tugeye would be enough of a deterrent to a jerk with too much time and too little character. Despite all this, I've been tempted to install some, as I don't like tying off painters on my grab handles. I could be convinced to try a Tugeye2 for this reason. Like Rob said, I too am a little shy of trying out surgical experiments on my one and only.
 
I did mine with Electrical Nipples w/locknuts and clear tubing between for less then $10. If you take your time to line up the small pilot hole bit it's a piece of cake


 
I have put Tugeyes on all my royalex solos. I use them for painter attachments,but the problem with doing that,is that the painter is down near the water and ther get caught on things.
Turtle
 
Sure I have used Tugeyes. And pseudo Tugeyes. Painter attachment and particularly lining attachments should be low. Keep the extra line under a deck bungee or daisy chain and there is no element of snagging ( of course there should NOT be a K NOT)
 
The OP specifically asked about Tugeyes on composite canoes. But my response applies to all my canoes of various materials.

I've thought about Tugeyes several times but have always rejected the thought. Upon reflection, I realize I've never needed to attach rope a couple of inches above the water line and don't foresee a need ever to do so. All my dragging and hauling over land and water has been accomplished satisfactorily with painter lines, sometimes supplemented by a longer drag line from my rope bag.

I think painters should be attached higher up than typical Tugeye holes. That works much better for towing a canoe in whitewater, for tying up a canoe onto Pier 51, and for lashing down my canoes atop the magic bus. I use the grip handles for painters on my composite canoes that don't have factory drilled holes. (My kids lost my drill 20 years ago.)

In my opinion, Tugeyes are GAS things for most canoeists. But so are Ace playing cards in the spokes of a Schwinn.
 
I use the grip handles for painters on my composite canoes that don't have factory drilled holes.

In my opinion, Tugeyes are GAS things for most canoeists. But so are Ace playing cards in the spokes of a Schwinn.

I have used the carry thwarts or grip handles on molded deck plates for painter attachment on canoes that lack factory drilled holes. I’m not typically faced with lining a canoe and even though those attachment points are high on the stems have not had problems with those simple and available tie points in common painter use. (I have seen a deck plate torn off when a friend ran over their bow line with the front tire; it might have been better to sacrifice a vinyl deck plate than the bow stem in that case).

That said I have installed TugEyes and DIY’s on a couple of canoes where a through-hull painter attachment was advantageous.

The root cause of those installations was the use of spray covers. It is easier to use the lines while the covers are on if the painters are attached through the hull below the spray covers.

To the original question about TugEyes and composite hulls I have not done so. A closed float tank would seem to present more of a challenge, but TugEye’s did offer a version for composite hulls.
 
The OP specifically asked about Tugeyes on composite canoes. . . . I've never needed to attach rope a couple of inches above the water line and don't foresee a need ever to do so. . . . . In my opinion, Tugeyes are GAS things for most canoeists. But so are Ace playing cards in the spokes of a Schwinn.

Perhaps I should clarify my post, which was based on the OP's comment about "lines as low as possible".

My opinion is that Tugeyes placed in the recommended lining position, a couple of inches above the waterline, are something that would be a GAS thing for me because I have never needed lines attached that low on a canoe for any reason.

However, if I had the tools and skill I think Tugeyes placed in the typical grab loop position, a couple of inches below the deck, would be useful. Some of my canoes, including composite ones, have such factory grab loop holes, and they are certainly useful for the kind of dragging I have done, for tying the boat to a pier, and for tying down a canoe on top of a car. On my composite canoes with no grab loop holes I use the carry handles for painters.

I was casting a negative vote, based on my experience, only for a low placement of Tugeyes.
 
My opinion is that Tugeyes placed in the recommended lining position, a couple of inches above the waterline, are something that would be a GAS thing for me because I have never needed lines attached that low on a canoe for any reason.

It took me a while, and I had to search several acronym lists, but I finally figured out GAS: Gadget Acquisition Syndrome.

I did not install the TugEyes or DIY variants as low as “recommended”, but rather placed them where I thought they would most useful (and least likely to get snagged) for the type of non-lining painter rope use I encounter.

Not a good photos, but these DIY ones are positioned just below the spray covers.

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The grey tubing (piece of heavy duty garden hose) is a DIY handle that the painter line/loop runs through. One issue I found with spray covers is that the carry handles are hidden below the covers, and I occasionally found that I wanted something more hand-kindly than the painter rope for pulling the canoe ashore or across shallows.

GAS would make a good confessional topic.
 
Here is where Hemlock advises putting Tugeyes for lining a canoe a la Bill Mason. I don't do Bill Mason, so these holes are much too low to be practical for anything in my canoeing world -- other than when I'm stricken by Gear Acquisition Syndrome, usually in February.

lining_holes.jpg
 
Here is where Hemlock advises putting Tugeyes for lining a canoe a la Bill Mason. I don't do Bill Mason, so these holes are much too low to be practical for anything in my canoeing world -- other than when I'm stricken by Gear Acquisition Syndrome, usually in February.

TugEye’s site does not suggest placement that low, and I seem to recall that the written instructions that came with the TugEye kit included some mention of depth variation for intended use.

http://tugeye.com/install.html


I’ve spent a lot more time pushing canoes through swamp tangles, across strainers and over speedbumps than lining, so for my purposes I’d rather have the painter holes higher on the stems as shown in the TugEye instructions.

The DIY tug eyes required some shop-time cutting, sanding and custom fitting. The manufactured ones were a piece of cake.
 
TugEye’s site does not suggest placement that low, and I seem to recall that the written instructions that came with the TugEye kit included some mention of depth variation for intended use.

http://tugeye.com/install.html

Yes, but Tugeye's can be used for various types of attachment points not just for lining rope attachment. I thought this topic was about placing Tugeyes "as low as possible" "for lining", as Dave mentions in his OP.

For lining and tracking, the Mason recommendation is for a rope harness attached under the keel. See his Waterwalker video beginning about 1:15.


Since a Tugeye hole can't be drilled under the canoe and wouldn't be very practical under the waterline, Cliff Jacobson recommends "a few inches above the cutwater point", and offers some pictures in this article.

photo5.jpg


Since the cutwater point will vary with both keel (rocker) line shape and gear load, the correct attachment point is somewhat ambiguous. In any event, it's clearly much lower than one would put the usual and convenient grab loop holes.
 
Yes, but Tugeye's can be used for various types of attachment points not just for lining rope attachment. I thought this topic was about placing Tugeyes "as low as possible" "for lining", as Dave mentions in his OP.

Since the cutwater point will vary with both keel (rocker) line shape and gear load, the correct attachment point is somewhat ambiguous. In any event, it's clearly much lower than one would put the usual and convenient grab loop holes.

If nothing else Dave has now seen placement of Tugeyes at various depths along the stems, from Hemlocks on the down low to my just below the spray cover edges.

If I had foreseen a lot of lining in my future I would have positioned the Tugeyes lower on the stems. How low I do not know; even with the sealed tube glued inside the stems I’d be hesitant to position them below the cutwater. That waterproofey tube is all that stands between having a couple of half inch holes in the “bottom” of the boat.

While I think my assembly and gluing installation was lastingly secured and waterproof I can also see myself hastily jamming a spare paddle blade into the bow and disastrously dislodging that tube. If I had Tugeyes that low I’d bring some glue and a couple of ½” scupper plugs, just in case.

Even if positioned just above the loaded cutwater I wouldn’t want that placement for my everyday painter line use, and since the DIY versions cost about a buck apiece I might be tempted to add a second set much higher on the stems.
 
I don't have very much experience lining so I can't really say where or how is better but here is what I did.

My boat already had holes going straight in the bow and stern under the decks so I just used those to attach painters.

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Then I drilled holes in the deck plates, ran deck bungee through the holes and knotted it.
I coil my painters (no knots) under the bungees so I can grab the end and have it pull out quickly and cleanly if needed.

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It already had holes through the hull with rope grab handles. They are just open holes and I thought about fitting and gluing in PVC to make it watertight but have not done that yet.
 
I line all of the time as I can't stand portages, maybe 3 or 4 times a trip upstream and down doesn't matter.
My 2 cents. Tugeyes are not for painters or grab loops, they are for lining. When moving a canoe back and forth to get around rocks or between rocks, having a liner too high will cause the canoe to broach and flip over. Having the lining ropes attached relatively low makes it real easy to carve back and forth from bank to mid-stream and anywhere in between. I use 50 foot lining ropes and on many an occasion had the canoe 20 to 30 feet off the bank. My regular tripping canoe has both grab loops with a painter attached to it and tugeyes for lining.

It's fun - it's a hoot. Give serious lining a try - you'll love it.
 
Lining seems like a fun challenge and I think it would add something interesting to talk about and remember. One of those "remember that time we had to" types of things.

It makes sense to me that the lower there attached the better.
 
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