On the orginal boats I varnished the ply and oiled the stringers/gunwales. My problems resulted in my need to store the lashed to the underside of my deck. When it rained it seems that water got in around the holes for the carry handles. The water then drained down to collect around the coaming. The water damaged the joints at the stem plates, and also severly damaged the coamings.

Now it didn't help that the coaming were whe I ceased out and used scraps of big box birch ply I had. When I removed the skin all three layers of coaming peeled like paper.

In two months we are moving, and my boats will have inside storage, so it's a moot point. To cover my behind though I coated the stem plates and ends of all the stringers with epoxy. I also have rebuilt the coaming as an easy access recreational cockpit, and used all wood for it.

I did find it odd that the boat I built with cedar showed more damage then the one I built with Douglas fir...

The kidarka's I just decided I was going to do right. I epoxied all of the plywood, and followed with two coats of varnish. I still just oiled the stringers. For the coaming I did two coats of epoxy. As I mentioned before I lashed and epoxied the joints. I used the same polyester thread that George dyson sold me to stich on the skins. H actually recommended it for both applications when I bought it years ago.

I think that I will leave the wholes around the carry handle unsealed though. It's just too convenient of a way to drain any water that collects in the boat, since I'm not using a sea sock. If I was going to store outside I'd probably seal it, and add a drainage hole in the skin where the coaming peaks. I may do this on the kidarka's actually.

I think in terms of how much you feel you need to finish everything consider where you're storing it. Honestly, if built and stored properly I don't see why it wouldn't last forever with occasional re-skinning and maintenance.

I'll have pictures of the whole family of frames up later today or tomorrow.

John