[stumpie2]

blue heron, i also have rod holders in the lower/outboard portion of the gunwales and they arent difficult to use as mine are angled away from the boat and not straight back, my straight back holders are on the higher portion... as for the sloped gunwhale i dont use that as a step for boarding as i step from the dock(floating dock) to the engine box then to the floor... if you where to remove the higher portion of the gunwhale to me it would seem to make the gunwhale very low and take away the feeling of security in the deep cockpit and you would have to figure out how to lower the transom to mold it back to the gunwhale (big pain in the arse) it just and worth modifying the origional lines... i feel a little better with the high gunwales with the little ones on the boat also