: does anyone have a favorite way of making lifting handles or a source of
: information? I would like any ideas as this is my first boat and have no
: idea from past experiences

I hand carved a set of toggles out of cedar, used a drilling jig to drill them and then sanded and epoxy coated them. I used some scrap cedar left over from a GP paddle. If I were to do it again I would possible make a lamenated blank that would look better.

On another boat I just looped some rope through, and tied teh ends together in a monkeys fist knot. cheap and easy, and looks pretty good too. I've been meaning to get some 3/8 nylon multibraid in black to match better with the deck rigging.