Hi Dave,
I was faced with the same question last year when renovating and restoring the hull of an ancient Billing Boats Fish Cutter 'Gina 2' that I had inherited.
The Blog gives blow by blow account of how I stabilised and waterproofed the hull.
https://model-boats.com/builds/view/43305?goto=43306
Otherwise Haverlock is quite right too👍
I would have liked to have had a varnished wood finish but the original hull construction was so bad I had to fill it (after applying glass-fibre tissue to the inside) and the green filler gave it a tortoise shell effect!!😲
have fun. Cheers, Doug😎