In preparation for upcoming trips, I pulled ReelTime out of the water this past week and reworked the Rod Hoders under the Gunnels.  As shown below, these look like Teak, but are made from a Synthetic Decking Lumber and are maintenance free and very sturdy.  After talking about the design with a couple of other old salts and charter captains, I chose Trex, a proven Synthetic Decking Lumber over the marine type called "Star Board" because Trex is 1-1/8 thick and I like the Teak like finish.  They talked me out of painting them with marine epoxy and also advised to leave enough room to get the cleaning brush (3-1/2") underneath.  Thank you for the great advice, guys!