Even though this is an old topic, it's timeless.
First of all, I've never found a use for a strap where a piece of rope didn't do a better job. The description below is very much like a Trucker's Hitch but different. A Trucker's Hitch is meant to be untied completely, so you can reuse the rope for something else. The process below creates four permanent tie-down ropes leaving two of the three knots intact.
I used a piece of rope I'm guessing to be 6 feet long before any knots were put into it. Your boat and trailer will determine how much rope you need. If you don't care if the rope stretches a little, use a nylon rope. If you don't want it to stretch, you can use polyester or any other non stretch rope. I do not recommend polypropylene, because it breaks and disintegrates too easily. For many years I used a 5/8" nylon rope, but a 3/8" polyester/Dacron would have been a better choice. You'll need four of these ropes for the boat. The cheap polyester rope from Ace, Lowe's, or Home Depot are fine.
1. At one end of the rope tie a bowline with a loop about as big as your fist. You will never untie that bowline knot.
2. Wrap the rope around the pylon and pull through the bowline to cinch around the pylon.
3. Tie an inline loop near the pylon. I recommend a
midline figure 8 or a midline overhand, but if you have a favorite midline loop knot, go for it. (right click the red link to open a YouTube video in a new tab or window) I do not recommend the inline sllp knot. The inline loop knot will never be untied, either.
Okay, now you have the rope tool you need to tie down the boat. Make another 3 of those, one for each of the 4 pylons.
To tie the boat down, repeat step 2 above and continue...
4. Loop the bitter end of the rope around (something) on the trailer. In my case the trailer had a fairly large U-bolt on a rear cross bar. Run the bitter end through the U-bolt
5. Run the bitter end through the inline loop (3 above) to give you a 2:1 purchase. Crank down hard on the bitter end, pinch and lock it with a slipped half hitch.
6. Finish with another half hitch to lock the slip loop from 5 above.
To release the boat from the trailer, untie the half hitch over the slip loop and tug on the slipped loop. That releases the boat from the trailer. Pull the rope through the bowline to release it from the boat. Then stow it with your gear.
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