I'm at the stage on my Chesapeake 17 LT where I have to either add rub rails, or sand the edges to produce the "round over". Visually, either approach is OK with me. Any advice or opinions on which is the better route to go? (Has anyone done it one way, and then wished they had gone the other route? Do rails add significant strength?, If you round-over, do you end up with a lot of damage over time, etc.).

By the way, the many tips on planing the sheers in earlier posts were very helpful, and I ended up with almost no gap at the deck/side junction.

Thanks for any insights--Ed