: Hi Jim;

: I worry about discoloration also. I brushed thinned varnish into the slots
: twice, I hope that will suffice. My red cedar is pretty light colored, I
: can imagine how blotchy it could look at the slots if salt water soaks in.
: Also, I'm going to try and work some silicone RTV into the slots as I'm
: inserting the loops. The only question is how easily the visible area will
: clean up!

: I'll certainly report on what success (or lack of) that I experience.

: Best Regards, Spidey

Spidey and Jim,

In his book, Nick advocates drilling any holes oversize, filling with epoxy, then redrilling to the desired size. That sounds like it would completely seal the wood and with such a small slot it should not be 'too' visible
Actually, Spidey, wasn't it you who came up with the technique to colour the epoxy filler to match the wood? If such a tech.was used I'd think the slot would be pretty near invisible.

kellyt