Hi Scott,
For the most part you cannot see the fiberglass cloth or tape under the epoxy, but having just built an Arctic Tern 14 and beached it on rocky beaches for 3 months I advise you to make it heavier duty rather than lighter duty. The scratches on the bottom "football" were terrible but I would not advise you only because of that; some of the scratches went deep and the wood was in danger of getting wet (and eventually rotting if I did nothing). The worst damage was on the keel and the chines (where the tape protects!).

I condidered various means of adding protection to the hull such as plastic or metal strips, abrasion pads, kevlar patches, s-glass tape, etc. I decided to loose the bright hull and add layers of epoxy mixed with coloidal silica and graphite powder. The silica makes the skin hard and durable, the graphite adds some durability and also a kind of lubrication which causes less damage to occur. It also makes the hull black. The silica has a property (thixotropic?) that is the opposite of 'self leveling' and the finish it yields is not smooth (great for fillets though), so the underlying layers contain about 30% silica and the finish layer none. All layers have 10 to 15% carbon. I sanded the epoxy/carbon/silica smooth (which ain't easy) and covered it with varnish (I almost decided to wet sand to 2000 grit for a super slick racing finish (no varnish), but the black graphite gets all over everything unless contained). The result is the exact same amount of scatches but they are harder to see and not as deep. I also found that if I took a hit that sliced to fiberglass I could quick fix it with a mix carbon and varnish.

I am not sure what wood color you love but be advised that by the time you are finished the wood will be much darker than when the panels first come out of the shipping box. I had early thoughts of staining the panels but I am glad I didn't do it. I later added some design features on this boat that are stained dark for contrast, but NEVER AGAIN! The slightest touch of sandpaper seems to grind through layers of varnish, epoxy and stain requiring, once again and again and again re-applying stain to the wood wound. For an alternate view of staining see Nicks photo sequence of building his new S$G Night Heron. (I think he has built one or two of these things before.)
http://www.guillemot-kayaks.com/gallery/SnGNH

In hindsight, I would rather that I had stuck strictly to the the directions when building my tern. It seems that every time I diverged from the given plan and tried to customize it added efforts and expenses and delays getting in the water that I would not have done if I knew the cost beforehand. I now think it is a better and happier policy to do it by the book one or more times before embarking on waves of creative vanities.

Since your making one you may want to see mine...
http://www.kayakforum.com/gallery/MATB2003?page=4

: I've just been examining the beautiful pictures of Gini's new Tern 14. I've
: ordered the same boat (which is still in the box about 10 months later...)
: and have, to this point, only read and re-read the instructions about a
: dozen times.

: Gini raised the possibility of two intersting alterations reciently. #1
: skipping the outer tape, #2 staining.

: Regarding #1 - Would the group (knowing this was my first attempt at boating
: building) advise me to try this, or stick with the directions? I'm a good
: woodworker but haven't done fiberglass before. I'd love to gain something
: on the appearence side but don't want to get myself into trouble on boat
: #1. Does the fiberglass tape look "bad"?

: And in #2 - I absolutely love the color. But again, something to try on my
: first boat? I've read to avoid stain because of "sticking"
: problems and also the possibility of sanding through the stain when you're
: rounding the edges. Come to think of it, you'd have to sand through the
: stain while shaping the bow/stern wouldn't you?

: Many have obviously worked around these issues, but what should I do on my
: first (but probably only for a long, long while) boat?

: Thanks!
: Scott