i like to varnish before painting.  if i accidently spill some paint on varnish, it cleans up really easily and will not penetrate or discolor the wood.  i also typically overlap the paint onto the varnish just a bit and you can get a really clean paint edge on varnish.

h

   I agree.

Also, do not waste your time with blue painters tape.

The tape from CLC is worth every penny!

Dean

Out of curiosity when you say "taping just below the edge" are you referring to an effect like "painting over the deck" from the CLC tips? Or perhaps you are aiming for the inverse of this (varnish wraps over to side-panels)? Either way, would you be willing to share what your results look like when you finish?

I'm nearing the finishing stage on a Shearwater Sport and am also trying to decide where to place the line between hull paint and deck varnish. While not a WD I think the geometries are pretty similar, as both the sharewater and WD have shear panels that make unique shear line contours. While there's an abundance of images of painted Chesapeakes to reference for inspiration. I have not seen many images of the Shearwater and WDs painted.