owner's process almost exactly. If you check out Diver Dennis' photobucket page you'll find all kinds of good stuff. Here's a link to his bow eye photos: http://s277.photobucket.com/user/DiverD ... t=3&page=1The main thing is you need something hefty to use as a backing plate for the eye. I went to a local scrap metal place and bought a 1.5 inch thick plate of aluminum for maybe 20 bucks. Since I didn't really have the right tools for cutting, I had a buddy who owns a machine shop slice me up a trapezoid-shaped backing plate that would match up to the angle of the inside of the hull. I used thick cardboard to make him a template to follow.
Next step was to order a bow eye from here : http://www.sea-dog.com/groups/1416-bow-eye
I ordered the 2nd largest eye they make - the stainless steel is 1/2 inch thick and it's good for 28,000 pounds.
I then measured and drilled holes through the backing plate. Then came to the scary part. After measuring/double checking countless times, I drilled 1/2" thick holes through the bow from the inside of the boat. After the first hole was drilled, I used my backing plate (with the holes already drilled in it) as a template to drill the second hole through the hull, just to be absolutely sure that everything would line up. After all holes were drilled, I was delighted to find out that the bow eye slid in nice and smooth - no issues.
I did all this a little over a year ago and it has been one of the best things I've done to the boat. I've launched/pulled the boat with it 10+ times with no problems. I still need to go back and seal things up with some 3M 4200 to make it totally waterproof. The whole install is well above the waterline so no worries there unless I have waves crashing over the bow.
Shelbygt, who is also on this forum, did a similar project around the same time. He used a 5/8" thick stainless bow eye and a piece of aluminum angle stock as a backing plate. Works great...his boat is a 1962 31'
