I used a strip of polypropylene cloth on the stems to provide some extra abrasion protection.  I started by masking off the area for the cloth, starting roughly just above the waterline on each stem.  At that end, I made the strip the same width as the Ash external stem to make it blend-in a bit.  Back along the hull, I widened the area slightly.  After applying the cloth and wetting it out, I used plastic wrap to smooth it down.