Treating galvanized standing rigging - linseed oil?

[orchidius]

Hi there,

So I finally got my hands on the brand spankin' new galvanized stays for the mast. In order to further protect it from the elements, I would like to treat the stays before they go up. The oldtimers would probably call for a proper "worm, parcel and serve", but this is too much hassle.

An alternative I read about is regular varnish (not too sure about that...) or (boiled) linseed oil. I just learned though that boiled linseed oil is not really a boiled version of raw linseed oil, but rather raw linseed oil with curing additives mixed into it.

What process would you guys suggest? What have you used yourself?

Cheers!