Why can't you put on a new coat of varnish with the metal strips in place? I would just do a light sand and a fresh coat every so often with a good Marine varnish. Boats don't get their woodwork redone that often and can look great for years. What varnish did you use?
I don't know what kinda varnish is on the '67. Sanding without disassembly is a decent idea except if you don't do it immediately when needed the wood will start to turn gray in spots.
On Shelley I've always used the best outdoor varnish available at Lowes/Home Depot and applied it very thin at first with progressively thicker coats, just the way Brownell recommends in his "How to Restore" book.
May need to search the boat sites to find out exactly what they use.
