... deal with this in my latest post. Obviously you don't believe it, so here's the proof. This is what my boat looks like when the bags are not installed. The line that threads through the holes is still there, but completely out of the way. In the time it would take you to install just a few of the D-rings, I can rig or un-rig an entire float cage. Don't create problems that don't exist just so you can hang onto an unreasonable idea that you made up, but which nobody else would consider using.
tho the ways be many, drilling holes in Royalex often below ‘water line’ then discussing drilling thru the R hull as a positive alternative to violating a sturdy aluminum gunwale with a few widely spaced 5/32’s holes…?
I’ve also seen pad eyes screwed into the bottom edge. I’ve never seen them screwed into the top. Pad eyes work fine, but it is more work than I would do. It’s a lot easier to drill holes through the Royalex just below the gunwale. If you click on this picture to zoom in, you can see the lacing and the holes in the hull:
The only problem I have ever seen with holes drilled through the hull is if the bag expands in the sun and overinflates. If the bag gets big enough it can rip the cord through the hull. If that happened you would have a problem with the pad eyes as well. Shouldn’t be a problem with small end bags on a tandem.
We aren't drilling holes in the bottom of the boat, so this crap about being below the waterline is nonsense. If the water splashes up as high as the gunwales, it will be coming over the top in buckets anyway, so if at the same time a few drops come in through the holes (which are nearly stuffed full by rope), how will you even know? Speaking of "on which planet?" as you said earlier, where's the common sense in any of what you've been preaching? You act as if no one has ever tried this stuff out before, and are applying fantasy logic to support your view.
I can agree that additional holes drilled in the gunwales may not be a problem, but there's no way to deny that they could be. No matter what, installing eyes on the tops makes the least sense of all (and I still don't know where you keep coming up with this aluminum-gunwale idea. On a Mad River Eclipse, the odds are best that the gunwales are ash, with the next-best chance being vinyl, and probably zero chance of them being aluminum). Holes drilled in the hull absolutely won't be a problem, no matter what, and the method is easier.
In any case, the vast majority of whitewater boats are outfitted by drilling the hull, so why don't you see what happens when you chew out all the people you actually know who've done it this way on their boats and see if they react any differently than the folks here. This is beyond silly.
Please don’t feed the obfuscator. It only encourages habitual obfuscation, particulary when the obfuscator’s obfuscations are rendered necessary by his continued comments regarding a subject about which he knows absolutely nothing but can’t resist.
And yes, I am aware I just fed the obfuscator and take full responsibility for the resulting irony contained therein.
cord abrades hull, hull abrades cord, holes compromise both hull and gunwale at gunwale hull, cord difficult to repair reposition or replace, holes/cord at impact areas, bag lower than top gunwale d ring mount less floatation less water deflection, bag harder install, more difficult bag inspection on the water eg for sand debris..removing the top mount d rings is time consuming as is the installation method…
now what you will tell me is:
bag cage installation thru hull holes is a time proven method of safe bag installation for white water in that the top mount will scrap off with boat upside down in hydraulic, bashing along the bottom ( with air bags holding the hull upside down), caught in a snag..the hydraulic power your skills are capable of running will suck the d rings and bag off a top mount…is this what your about to write ?
yet popping the gunwale/hull hole mount against a rock under current pressure is the better way.
So how many times are you bashing the hull/gunwale ?
And the upside down scraping bottom caught in snag getting your brains sucked out by a hydraulic ?
Can’t thread a screw or read a rule ? your group is offering that level as a reason for drilling hiles in the hull.
NorthWater's airbag tiedown kit..I picked up years ago. I used pop-rivets to the bottom of the gunnel = worked well(hollowed out aluminum)..think screwing them to bottom of wood gunwales will work..but imho getting a close, tight fit in drilling, with added pop-rivets/screws..and then maybe a coating of something will make a nice high hull connection. If you can get individual components = even better. Drill the holes that fit tight. Hate to drill but drilling, at some point, is the most bombproof...Try glueing a few tiedowns to the hull(Find the Best glue! = might wanna try C-Boats.net for opinions on flue and possibly coating holes? after drilling) before you do the upper-stuff. If you haven't done this before FOLLOW the DIRECTIONS for glueing to whatever material you have!!