I am sorry if this becomes a double post. I pressed a key and everything went!
I gave it a coat of varnish this AM and now after 8 hours in the sun at 28C it is giving me a great deal of hope that i will be able to "get-away-with-it" after a few more coats an proper drying time.
I am sorry to admit to "cowardice" re the flame treatment; I can see that it could well work b...u...t...!!!!

Do I interpret a "scraper" as a flat piece of steel sharpened at 90 degrees and burred, like I have used in lute building in the past?

Thank you all for your advice, I am feeling confident that it will come pretty well right. As you can tell i was devastated when it all occurred but you guys have raised my spirits.

: It will depend on exactly how fuzzy it is, but here's are some options: 1- If
: you have a propane torch with a flame spreader, you could set it for a low
: flame and pass it QUICKLY over the frayed area. That should knock down the
: worst of the fraying. You must be VERY careful to move quickly and not to
: allow the head of the torch to contact the skin.

: 2- Whether you try the above procedure or not, the next step would be to
: apply a coat of varnish and let it cure. There will be some fuzz poking
: through it, but don't worry about that. Once it has cured, take a SHARP
: steel or carbide scraper and carefully scrape away the protruding fibers.
: Varnish again and repeat as necessary until you're satisfied with the
: result. You'll probably want to apply a final coat to the entire boat to
: even out the finish.

: 3- After re-coating, you could try sanding lightly to remove the fuzz, rather
: than scraping.

: If runs happen again, use a sharp scraper and SLOWLY, CAREFULLY scrape them
: off. There is no reason that this should damage the fabric or cause it to
: get fuzzy unless you rush and get too aggressive. I have done it
: successfully many times.