October 6, 2002 - Varnishing.

To protect the boat from rotting I am varnishing it with yacht varnish - at 20 pounds for two litres from McKay's on East Street it's not cheap, but it's important to get the best psosible varnish on the boat in my opinion, as it will save trouble later on. The first coat had to be diluted with a quarter of white spirit, and went on quickly and easily. Then I had to leave it to dry for two days before the first full coat.

I thought that varnishing would be relaxing and soothing, but it's just boring. And after you're done (it takes about 90 minutes to put on one coat), your back and arms ache. Perhaps if I could put the punt up higher it would be easiter. The second coat didn't seem to spread on quite properly, but I'm hoping that the third coat that I put on today will fix that. You only need three coats but I think I'll put on a fourth anyway.

Above you can see how I solved the ends of the runner problem - I put in a few more screws, and sawed of the ends at an angle using a junior hacksaw. Then I sanded a lot. I don't think I need to worry about the end of the brass screw showming through - it doesn't look like it will snag on anything.

The varnish gives the wood a beautiful shine. Before it looked drab and boring, but now there is a lovely glow to the punt. I'm glad I decided not to paint the wood. I don't know if I am going to paint the inner bottom of the punt or not though. It's kind of traditional; for example the King's college punts are purple and the Trinity ones are green. Actually, this is probably a good point to request for comment:

• What colour (if any) should the interior of the punt be?
• What should I call the punt?