MGC,
Nor am I fan of protuberances so they definently will not be going back on. Hopefully I can get a good grain match with a plug to cover up the butchery. On most of my strippers I drilled a hole in the deck and ran a painter line through it. I wont do that anymore. I am a big fan of carry thwarts to tie painter lines to and that is what I will do on all of my new builds. Thanks for the input.
Norm