Lifting eye storage

I'm new to the forum. I suppose I should introduce myself. I bought a well cared for 82 sn2001 toward the end of last season. I am negotiating for a boat house at a local lake club. The current lift in it is the strap type. I'm not interested in dealing with straps under the boat/fins etc every time I get the boat out. My question is, would you recommend just hanging the boat by the lifting eyes all summer or building a carriage for it? I know Nautiques were designed to be stored by the lifting eyes but the boat is 35 years old and still has the original stringers. Again, It's a nice solid boat and the floors have no issues now. Just wondering if the age is something to consider.

I concur with Kevin. Hang it.

Kirk,
Just take a look at all the fastenings under the eyes. Look for signs of major corrosion and any major cracks in the glass. Also inspect the stringers plus, in the FAQ thread (maintenance section) there's a link to stringer inspection by Tim.

When you get it, don't forget pictures! We love them!!

Have posted this pic before but will show it again. Looked OK above the foam but sure was bad under the floor where the foam was soaked for a long time. The rear one is easy to inspect, not so easy on the front. As Pete and Tim said "inspect carefully"

I used a hanging type hoist for the better part of 30 years for my 81 SN before switching to the more common drive on lift. The only downside I experienced was the lifting rings wore from the lifting hooks.   I replaced the eyes after their Integrity became questionable. This shouldn't be a problem for you as it took 25 years to wear mine down. I vote go for it if the inside brackets are sound.

Your straps must not be weighted. then. Mine on the Mustang above are,they have something sewed internally. Over the years that lift has held a Ski Supreme and a Shamrock. Will it be easy to convert from a 4 corner to a two point?

I haven't seen any Correct Crafts buckle from lifting at the rings.

Rings, straps, cradle, all fine options. Cradle is nice if you are inside the boat a lot when lifted as Gary mentioned.

Straight would be fine, that is pretty much how any vertical style boat lift is setup, ideally you would have the bunks as close to the stringers as possible. As far as depth, whatever the cradle structure is from the top of the bunk to the lowest point of the underside of the cradle plus another 6" or so would be the minimum depth that would work. The 3.5 foot depth you mentioned should be enough unless you use some giant framing members.

If you do go with the lifting eyes, here is an option. This is how my dad converted straps to hooks on our old dock and kept the four corners. He used steel cross bars with pulleys on each end (pulleys are optional but reduce the weight for the lift of course). On the bottom center of the two crossbars there was a welded eye and about 2 ft of chain and a hook attached. We used bungee cords to attach from the cross beam eyes (permanently attached) to the hook eye (hooked on when needed) to keep the hook engaged and to allow us not to have our fingers in that area as the lift raised (was also nice if there was boat wake coming in). Guess he could have also used lifting hooks that clipped on but the bungees worked well. This solution would result in the boat being able to be lowered into the least water depth and seems like it would be a lot easier than reconstructing/bracing the existing lift structure.