I'm not sure I'd hang a sock off the now eye. Too muh potential for disaster if it came loose or if you happened to snag a stump. I just see that as a bad idea. To slow you down, try dragging a bucket or two or as mentioned dropping the TM. Trimming up a few degrees will also slow you down but not so far it gives you trouble with cooling the motor.

On the boat with pods, sounds like moving the batteries back is in order.

Wannabe...