"Bill McKee" wrote

Leave the aluminum painted. I like the bow eye below the roller. Then
you have a litte extra protection of the boat coming forward in a hard
stop. Just do not back the trailer in as far and the boat will not be
floating at the roller.

Thought of that as I was in the middle of retrieval last evening. For
years, I would launch and recover my own boat, and had a system. This time,
with wifey, it is very different. I can see that I am going to have to redo
under the boat and put some carpeted boards, and a couple of more guides and
stops up frontward, where I can put the trailer minimally in the water, then
power up and slide up. Lock on the eye hook to keep it from rolling off
during pullout, then winching it all the way up once I'm at the top of the
ramp and stopped. A foot long safety chain with a snap eye on the bow eye
bolt just in case the strap breaks.

The two side carpeted board guides are perfect, but the rollers under the
boat need some reworking and replacing, and I have always liked long boards
under there to evenly support the weight. Time to work on a lot of things
now the weather is cooler.

I like your idea about the bow eye for protection against a hard stop. I
think my problem was having the trailer too deep in the water on retrieval.

Steve