Stainless steel ski tow eyes

[harryharls]

Hi,

Hello to all, new member here! I've bought a 1992 1800 XR, it's in great nick for its age. I'm probably going to have loads of questions but my first is this:

I'd like to tow a knee board or tube and on the spec sheet it states that part of the standard equipment is Stainless steel tow eyes (2). Does anyone know where these are on the boat? All there is on the back is a single grab rail on the starboard side and two fixings on the top of the sides near the port which have a single transverse hole through them. Are these fixings that you fit 'tow eyes' to? If so, does anyone know where to get them?

Any help would be hugely appreciated :-)

Cheers,
Marcus

[Phillbo]

The tow eyed would be centered on the transom if one exist.

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard

Can you post some pictures of what you are refering to? If it says two two hooks I would suspect the would be on either side of the transom. They may be under the swim platform.

[Phillbo]

Those would be for securing it to the trailer....

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by Phillbo

Those would be for securing it to the trailer....

Yep but you can use a bridle for a tow line on them. Although if they are under the swim platform they are not practical to use.

[Phillbo]

I've never seen a boat with them above the swim platform....

[harryharls]

Thanks everyone, I've found them! They are mounted on the sides of the 'transom?' on either side of the outboard, they are just small stainless hoops but feel very strong. Thanks for all your replies and help

[jrsick]

Marcus, I believe you are talking about tie down points. There are adapters you can use to rig a tow line to these points, but this is not an ideal set up. We can give you some additional suggestions if you would like to submit a stern shot of your boat.

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by Phillbo

I've never seen a boat with them above the swim platform....

Not all boats have swim platforms and on older boats with bolt on ones the tie downs typically were above it. Being that the OP has an outboard i'm not sure if he has an integral swim platform or not but based on the description of what he was looking for this made the most sense to me.

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by harryharls

Thanks everyone, I've found them! They are mounted on the sides of the 'transom?' on either side of the outboard, they are just small stainless hoops but feel very strong. Thanks for all your replies and help

You may want to consider adding a ski pole as this will give you better clearance of the tow line over your outboard and with the line being higher easier for the person in the water to get up out of the water when starting as well as getting air of wakes.

[shrew]

The pad eyes on the stern serve as both tie-down points when trailering, and can be used with a ski bridle for tow sports. They should have a small backing plate an nylon lock nuts on the back end.

[harryharls]

Hi all, thanks for all the help. I can't take a picture now because it's dark :-( but I'm sure that these eyes are what the spec sheet describes as 'tow eyes'. There's no swim platform, just two small high platforms either side of the outboard. They look to be in just the right place for a ski bridle. It did come with a ski pylon but whoever originally fitted the base (on the floor of the deck) obviously hadn't used stainless screws as they were horribly rusted, so I chiselled the rusty screws out and removed the base. To be honest it was a stubbed toe waiting to happen anyway! I may fit another at some point in the future if a tow bridle doesn't work well.

[jparsons121]

You may find reinstalling the pylon to be worthwhile if you tow a lot. It will greatly improve the boats handling when towing. Using the tie down eyes with a bridle will work, but isn't optimal. When towing, either boats or toys, having the attachment point forward of the engine(s) will allow the boat to pivot around that point and keep the load from 'steering' the tow vessel.

[harryharls]

Thanks for the advice, it's the maiden voyage on Windermere tomorrow, so as long as it a: floats b: the motor works c: steers, I'll definitely think about reinstalling the pylon base :-)