Tie Downs and Strap Plates: Location, Location, Location

Gear Design & DIY
#1

I want to add some attachment points to my Yak, but the glued on spray deck is not centered (by design I’m told), and I’m not sure exactly where to locate them. I have 4 Tie Downs and 4 Strap plates, and I’m thinking of putting 2 of each (total of 4) on each side tubes, i.e. 2 tie-downs and 2 strap plates on each side (total of 8). The additional tie-downs are to create a "rail that goes all the way around the raft, and the tie-downs would be for fishing rod, paddle, what-have-you…

Now that I’ve painted that somewhat confusing picture let me get to my primary consideration… Is it OK to glue them in a position that overlaps the edge of the spray skirt and the raft tube in order to achieve a more balanced ballast… If I glue them where they are attached to the raft tube only they will sit on the side of the tube rather than the top.

#2

My take: I’d be hesitant to do this unless you’re game to field-repair anything that goes wrong. Only do it if you feel like you could cut the part of the patch that overlaps the deck off, since that part is not going to be providing useful strength, and may be endangering the deck.

You could take and cut a slit in the deck right where the deck is guled on and put the patch through the slit so that it’s still against the main tube. However you’d need to do some repair of the deck so your cut didn’t expand into a large tear.

Or you could just do it and avoid putting much stress on it. There’s a big difference between tying on a fishing pole (low stress) and desperately holding onto your raft as you go through whitewater by a strap that goes to that attachment point (high stress, both for the attachment point and for you.).