Bill, I was thinking of doing something like that too, but the cost of the sleeves seemed too much for me. Hope to see your project done soon! The couple of paddles I've done with the carbon-kevlar sleeves turned out really well (in terms of material at least).

Btw, it you happen to need about 8 feet of the *non-braided* heavy carbon sleeve, let me know. That's good for shafts I suppose, if they are of certain diameter and might be good for various rods or stringer pieces too. I got it from Soller recently but got no immediate use for it. Bidding starts at half price -;)

Why not use carbon-kevlar for the gunwales at least? Carbon and kevlar are I suppose to be about the same strength if I'm reading the charts right and about the same weight and cost. But the carbon-kevlar will not just snap in two if it breaks - will at least hang onto itself by its strands... Sanding is OK too, just need to be careful after the first sanding and fill coat no to sand too much again...