Top paint and rub rails

I painted the topsides last week.  The tough part was painting under the side decks.  I had debated painting underneath and decided I should do it to give it a more finished look, though you will only see it if you're in the boat looking low.

I gave the cleats a good soaking in boiled linseed oil.

I also decided to add some rub rails.  I ripped them out of the ash board, 1" x 1/4".  They are only 1/4" thick because the boat already has a 1 1/4" by 5/8" outwale that has been glassed and painted.  Since the board was only 8' long I had to scarf.  I cut a small step to help minimize the glue line and give me a stop when clamping the scarf.

The ones going in the cockpit had to be notched at the ends to slide under the forward and aft deck where I had rounded the corners.

Then I had to round over the edges, 100 linear feet in total.  Because they are rub rails and will likely need to be replaced due to being banged into I didn't want to permanently mount them.  They are too thin to fully countersink the screws and bung them, so I'm just countersinking them below the surface.  I bought a box of 100 screws but I'm going to need 106 so I will have to pick up a few more.

I used some scrap wood to make a guide for mounting.

Without countersinks and pilot holes the wood was prone to splitting due to it being cross grained.  It's not ideal, but it's not like I have been able to get vertical grained wood.  After drilling all the pilot holes and countersinks for all of them I was able to tack them into place and figure out how I wanted to shape the ends.

They still need to get oiled and then I will mount and varnish them.