Palm wood canoe

I need some advice about preserving a new canoe carved from the
trunk of a tropical palm.  The canoe, from Amazonian Peru is
destined for a new museum in the Canary Islands, Spain.

It has been suggested that the canoe be sealed in Peru with a
commercial product, such as Thompson's water sealant (I believe
that's the brand name), to prevent drying and cracking of the palm
wood in the arid environment of Tenerife.

The current plan is to ship the canoe directly from Iquitos, Peru to
Tenerife where it is likely to remain, boxed up, until the new
museum is completed in early 1998.  The new museum will be climate
controlled so ultimately the canoe will be displayed under good
conditions.  The canoe will be at greatest risk of drying and
cracking while it is boxed up and stored (in an non-climate
controlled area).

A bit of background, palm wood is not true wood in the chemical or
botanical sense but rather a fiberous material which is strengthened
with silca for rigidity.  The wood reacts more quickly to changes in
RH than true wood.

My questions:  Is a commercial water sealer a reasonable solution?
My sense is that it may be strong and a better solution might be a
water-based product which would slow down the water transfer from
the wood to the atmosphere.  Is there another option for sealant?

What precautions can we take to mitigate the effects of environment
during the storage period?  It is unlikely to find a climate
controlled storage area, but I'm looking.

Jane C. MacKnight
Registrar
Idaho Museum of Natural History
Campus Box 8096
Pocatello, ID 83209-8096
208-236-2603
Fax: 208-236-4600

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:22
                 Distributed: Friday, September 5, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-22-012
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