Team

It seems that the one area of my yaks that get the worse abuse is the keel line in the rear, the last 30-36 inches. My yaks all were made with a definite keel that lead to a Vaclav style blunt-but-faired stern. The abuse is a wear through of the glass down to wood which requires sanding and reglassing.
I recall one of Barry's designs for the Azul yaks having a plastic rub-strip which got me to thinking that a replaceable rub strip isn't such a bad idea, or maybe go further and install a faired "fin" idea that would bolt on and serve a dual function of being a rub strip and something to enhance to some yet unknown degree tracking in jello seas. I'll post some tentative drawings and cardboard simulations for the sake of discussion.

Second, are there woods out there that can be submerged in salt water without any treatments or coatings and resist wear reasonably well? I'd like to use wood over plastics for the aesthetics, and hopefully, find a design where I can then retire the rudder permanently. I think it was Tim Matson who put it well that he just didn't like the way my yak performed (BTW Tim: I can't thank you enough for your honest and concise evaluations and thoughts).

Thanks everyone