I don't have any particular music that I listen to when going to or coming home from a canoe trip. The one song that I won't listen to while driving to a canoe trip is, Dueling Banjos, from Deliverance.
In my limited experience, the varnished seats will never match the gunwales if they are oiled. When the varnish ages it will match more closely but never be exact
550 paracord is also handy for whipping cracked items. Of course you can use the cord but individual strands or just the sheath with the strands removed works good for items that require the whipping to have a tighter bend radius. I repaired a cracked wooden slat on a camp chair using the...
Another good use for dental floss is eyeglass repair. If you lose a hinge screw or an eyewire screw, thread dental floss through a few times and tie it off
I use both. I use spar varnish on the blade and Watco oil on the shaft. I tape off the blade/shaft transition area before varnishing. It gives a nice sharp line where the varnish ends. Then I oil the shaft