Sneak preview! I've gotten most of the bling fastened to the boat and some of the finish. I screwed the stem bands to the stems and hung the carrying handles today and got another coat of varnish on the wood parts of the boat. The next time I get a sunny day I'll try to get the boat outside and get some better close up shots of details on the boat.

The burled wood of the decks is a mixed up combination of absorbent and and dense fibers. I've got three coats of varnish (three parts varnish, one part thinner) on the wood and I don't know how many coats it will take before the decks have absorbed all the varnish that they want. I've got to give each coat a day to dry so I don't know how long I'll be at it. I'll keep going until I get a consistent coat everywhere. I'll keep thinning the varnish as thinned varnish dries faster meaning less time for dust nibs to get in the finish. I'm using Mccloskey Man O War varnish, I've always had good luck with it.

I had a good water borne finish on the hull a week ago but drips, runs and scratches happen and now I know that when I get the varnish on the wood like I want then I'll re-shoot the hull.