The deck is finished

The deck is finished. The symmetrical joggling worked. Unfortunately, as a result I didn’t quite come out in line at the waist and the forecastle, but that is the only thing. Otherwise I am very pleased. The thread as caulking seam has, as I said, suited me very well. I think it was also less work than blackening all the strips with a pencil or marker.

I have scraped the whole deck twice, to remove all glue residue and spots. In the photos you always discover new spots, but I will touch those up.

Oil

When I wanted to oil the deck, my oil turned out to have gone off. So ordered new (Rustins Danish oil). Hopefully it arrives reasonably quickly, because I want to oil the deck before I fit it. Once the oil is on, the colour should become a bit nicer still.

Piet advised being sparing with the oil: one thin coat gives the nicest result according to him, and rubbing it off straight away with a soft lint-free cloth or kitchen paper makes it better still. He never colours his decks himself, because that wasn’t done in reality either: decks were left untreated and went grey from weather and seawater. He only protects them with one coat of clear matt varnish. I am sticking with oil, in a thin coat, because I did that on the gun deck too.

Planking pattern

Herby63, self-described ‘millimetre chief’, asked why I had used a 0-1-3-2 planking pattern and not simply 0-1-2-3. I based the pattern on Zu Mondfeld. Earlier I wrote that I would use a four-butt shift, but it has become a three-butt shift. Herby’s conclusion: odd chap, that Zu Mondfeld.