To me the most vulnerable parts of the wood frame would be the notches in the edges plywood frames that the gunwhales and chines locate in. Once stringers are lashed into these it must be impossible to really coat them with any finish type. When water gets into a joint like this there is very little air flow so most susceptible to rot...
Was wondering if there is any downside to finishing (rounding edges and Tung Oil/Varnish etc) the frames and stringers prior to assembly and lashing*. Would probably be easier and quicker as you don't have to reach around anything... plus you would get into the end grain on the pywood notches...
*Yes I realize that there would be some re-finishing to do on bow and stern as you cut stringers/chines to fit.
Geoff
