That is why I like these rails. I think I pilfered the idea from Mike Hanks, so he gets credit for it. It's a versatile arrangement. I havent had too much trouble grabbing a line, I think because they are nylon and stretch a little when wet. This makes them loose enough to get a grip on, even though they lay on the deck. I'll have to put a bead, or a ball, on the forward shockcord anyway in order to stick a paddle blade under it from the cockpit.

: I agree that snagging is a hazard, but in my experience, having a snag-free
: boat is not the "MOST" important thing.

: The downside of flush hardware is that it makes it very difficult to grab
: your deck lines/bungees, especially with cold hands or while wearing
: gloves. As for not throwing spray, it sounds good in theory, but doesnt'
: seem to make much difference in practice. When water hits the recessed
: fitting on my boats it gets thrown up just as much as it does when it hits
: fittings that aren't recessed, which isn't much in either case. Besides,
: you've got yards of rope and bugee cord on the deck kicking up spray. I
: get far more spray off of my paddle than my deck fittings and lines. Flush
: hatches can certainly make a big difference in spray, but flush deck
: fittings really don't seem to.

: The way I see it, deck lines are useless if you cannot grab them when you
: need them. When I'm in the water and trying to get back in, or I'm
: assisting someone in getting back in their boat, I couldn't care less
: about the aethetic appeal of the deck fittings; I just want to be able to
: grab the necessary lines. When I need to stow a paddle quickly, I don't
: want to be fooling around with trying to sneak it under a bungee that's
: flush to the deck. Of course, you can remedy the situation by putting
: balls or corks on the lines, but then you've defeated the purpose of
: having flush deck fittings. That being the case, what's the point of using
: flush fittings at all? It would seem to me to be smarter to make
: low-profile, smooth, surface-mounted fittings that would hold the deck
: lines off the deck by a quarter inch or so. They'd be easier to install
: and wouldn't create knee bashing bumps under the deck. Anyone have any
: ideas?

: I don't want to sound like a Greenland zealot, but when you look at the boats
: of people who depend on them for their survival, they make it a point to
: have their deck lines up where they can grab them and slide gear under
: them easily.

: Sorry to rant, but I've been in potentially bad situations due to not being
: able to grab deck lines and I've seen others struggle with it, too. In my
: opinion, when it comes to safety, form should take a back seat to
: function.