The friction thing has been answered.
As for the bow problem. Issue is that as the rear of the boat sets down on
the trailer the bow lifts and moves away from the bow stop. Normally this
is solved w/ the wench and bow eye which holds the boat tight to the bow as
the rear goes down pulling the boat forward.

I can understand your desire to not install an eye.
Your best option would be to setup the trailer so you can adjust the bow
stop easily. Set the boat tight to the stop. Pull the boat out. Adjust
bow stop tight to the boat. This can be done any number of ways from
sliding the entire bow stop on the trailer to just adjusting the roller on
the stop. Should be able to come up w/ a sliding mechanism fairly easily.

--
Tony
my boats and cars at http://t.thomas.home.mchsi.com
"Gary" wrote in message
...

Background then Question:

We have a problem where our trailered boat does not set properly on the
trailer. When we pull it onto the trailer the bow is touching the bow-stop
on the trailer. But as we pull the boat & trailer up the ramps the bow
post moves a bit away from the boat so that the boat's bow ends up 2" or
3" from the trailers bow-post.

This is ok for short distances but when we trailer longer distances, the
rig rides much better if the boat is touching the trailer at the bow-post.

On most boat there is, of course, a bow-eye and you just pull the boat
forward with a winch. But this boat is an older wooden boat. It does not
have a bow-eye and we can not install one -- it would just pull the bow
out of the boat.

The boat *does* have lifting rings at the bow & stern. These were meant
for a straght up lifting of the boat. This is how the boat is supposed to
be put into the water.

We can put some pull on this lifting ring. And, possibly, we can reinforce
it so we can put more pull on it.

So...my QUESTION:

The boat weight about 4000 lbs. I've done a little googeling and read
about coefficient of friction.

#1: Am I right in thinking the Coefficient of Friction can not be more
than 1.0
In other words, the MAX force needed to pull the boat forward is 4000
lbs.

#2: The boat (painted wood) sets on four carpeted bunks. Am I right in
understanding
that the amount of surface area between the boat & bunks does not matter
as far as
increasing or decreasing the friction?