: I used epoxy for gluing several joints and also used a single coat of epoxy
: to cover a good portion of the frame. I finished covering the frame the
: next day with some varnish, so parts of the frame were varnished, and
: parts were epoxy covered. Within a year the difference was extremely
: apparent. The epoxy covered parts looked like new, and the varnished parts
: looked very aged. After three years the varnish was in bad shape, and the
: epoxy still looked about as good as when I cut the wood. Of course my
: memory may have faded about as fast as the epoxy coated wood, and kept me
: from noticing any changes there, but the difference between varnish and
: epoxy was dramatic. Forget varnish. Forget oils. Use epoxy resin.
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For stringers that will flex then do not use epoxy unless it is a quite a thin coating. The frame is meant to flex and if made too rigid then breakage is more likely. So if you do use the expensive and toxic epoxy , then I would flex the frame as it is dries.

If you are worried about rot then give the end pieces and the keelson a few coats of paint, paint is quite good at preventing rot. More important is storing the boat upside down in a dry environment.

When used daily with water getting inside , then just turn it upside down in the sun a few times a week. Wood rot is not a big concern in a SOF kayak