Frank,
I ended up doing what many SINK guys do and split the trolley into fore and aft sections. Fore runs from bow handle to side handle, aft from side handle to stern handle. This (mostly) keeps the trolley lines from getting inside the cockpit when they're tight. Saw this on YouTube somewhere, but can't find the video now. If my boat weren't folded away for the winter I'd post pics. Sorry.
The whole thing is removable. Each section consists of a pulley-attached-to-a-clip-attached-to-a-short bungee at one end, a 2" ring, and a clip at the other end. I attach the pulley ends to the fore/aft handles & the clip ends to the middle handle. The bungees act as small shock absorbers, but you could probably do without.
A few tricks:
1. I used 2" stainless or nylon rings as attachment points. After tying the line to one side of the ring & looping it around the pulley (or whatever) at one end, run the line BACK THROUGH the ring before looping it around the pulley at the other end and tying it to the other side of the ring. This keeps the loop neat & controlled & keeps line out of the cockpit when it's tensioned.
2. Keep enough slack in the lines to keep the attachment rings just above the waterline. Heavier rings also help to keep the lines out of the cockpit.
3. I use a large Nite Ize Figure 9 Carabiner/rope tightener to attach the anchor line. I clip it to the side handle. Double the anchor line through the trolley ring & attach to the carabiner. Then if you need to quickly release the rope you can just release it from the carabiner and it will run free through the ring. This may not be clear, but again you can see examples of this on YouTube.
4. The whole thing is quickly attachable/detachable, which I find essential for inflatables. You can also just attach the fore or aft sections if you want.
5. Austin Canoe & Kayak sells an anchor trolley system with 2 nice microblock pulleys for $33 that you can get most of the material from. That's cheaper than the pulleys themselves.
If you're still reading, hope this helps!
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