I tie to the bow eye so the boat is facing directly into the wind/tide but its not convenient. In fact its a real PITA but where else? What I would like (love) to have is a combination bow light - cleat like Boston Whaler offers as an option. I upgraded to one on a Whaler I use to own and its was a beautiful piece of hardware - Super heavy duty, weighted about 5 pounds and very well made; not cheap but it sure made life easier. Kind of hard to describe but sort of a BITT with lights and made of heavy chrome plated bronze. Its been a while but I remember it being about 1/4" THK and the thru rod about 1/2 x 5 and the cost around 250.00 but worth its weight in gold.
An option that I'm considering is mounting a cleat forward of the hole for the front bow seat. The chair mount base is made of heavy material and drilling and threading for 1/4x20TPI or 5/16 x ? wouldn't be a problem. I don't use the forward casting seat anyway and I have a piece of PVC in the hole that I use it for an add'l rod holder when I'm at anchor.
I've considered mounting a small BITT to the chair plate but I can't find one with a narrow enough base. Improvising something wouldn't be to much of a problem but I certainly don't want a "cobbled" look. The boat is too **** nice looking for anything but first class hardware. Anyone have any suggestions? TIA
