“Boat soup, what's that?” I hear you say.
Boat soup is a term for a multitude of recipes or liquids that are put onto wooden boats before they are varnished or sometimes they are used as a coating on their own.
There is a lot of debate about what oils, varnishes and other liquids should be used so I did a bit of research before settling on a mixture made from equal parts of tung oil, pure turpentine and clear wood preservative.
I began by coating the inside. It is put on liberally with a brush starting at one end and by the time I have reached the other end it is ready to coat again. This is repeated until it will take no more and is thoroughly saturated.
You can see it is soaking right through all the gaps between the planking and around the tack holes but this is a very thin mixture so it is to be expected and I know it has reached everything.
I left it to soak overnight before turning the hull over and doing the outside.
I also had a dig around the gaps at the base of the stems and removed more of the white lead filler.I have decided to fill these gaps with a fillet of timber as when I put boat soup on the inside it poured through the gap!
With the whole hull coated it will now be left for five weeks to dry thoroughly before varnishing.
Cheers
Alick
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