First coat of varnish

The first coat of varnish is cut fifty-fifty with paint thinner. It will have much more gloss to the finish after a couple more coats. The next coat has 25% thinner in it and the one after that has 15%, and so on. 

The dark corners in the ends present a challenge to varnish. Somehow it seems easier to turn the canoe upside down and wear it like a giant hat, diving into the tapered recess and painting the finish on at arm's length. 

Linseed oil

Prior to covering, the old dry wood is coated with warm linseed oil. This keeps the hull from soaking up water in use. The exterior is covered with canvas, but water inside the hull can easily run through the gaps between planks and get between the canvas and the hull.

This also gives you an idea the tone the wood will have when it's varnished. The lighter wood is cedar from Menards in Wichita. The darker wood is either original planking or cedar from Home Depot in Washington. From the inside the lighter wood won't be as noticeable because it's under the decks. 

Almost ready for varnish and covering

I spent most of the day sanding the planking. There are still a few spots where bits of the old paint is stuck between the planks and under the ribs. I've been scraping these out with a pallet knife, scrapers or using stripper to soften them. I stained the gunwales so they weren't so white. 

I know there is no turning back once I have varnish on, so I'm trying to fix all the little things before I seal them under the finish. This canoe is almost 100 years old so I'm not trying to make it look new. I have to accept some of the marks and not sand out every scratch. 

I did a dry run of the canvas stretching to see if everything is going to work. 

These two trees next to the garage are just the right distance apart. 

The canoe fits in, but it's a bit of a struggle. When I tightened up the canvas it slipped out of the gripper on one end, so I'll have to use more clamps. 

I plan on doing at least one coat of varnish before I cover. I'm shooting for having it floatable by the fall WCHA NW camp out in mid September. The canvas filler needs to cure for for 4 weeks before painting, so I'm on a tight schedule.