Should I stain or paint pine boards

https://www.familyhandyman.com/woodworking/staining-wood/how-to-stain-wood-evenly-without-getting-blotches-and-dark-spots/view-all/

Access Youtube by going to types of Stain. Explicit, easy instructions.

Staining will not flake up. Paint will.

I, personally, really like stained pine, so that would be my preference, then finish with marine grade poly.

I hope you are using marine grade wood everywhere in the house boat so that it lasts with the moist conditions. Myself, I like the look of the stained wood on boats. Follow with the marine grade poly and it should last for a good while before the poly needs to be replaced, make sure you cover every inch so nothing causes problems down the line. Good luck! Hubby and I do boat restoration on the side. Just finished a fishing boat last summer, replaced all the wood flooring, carpet and spiffed up all the vinyl, and of coarse worked on the motor, pumps, etc. We use them for a year or two, sell it and do another boat on the side. We took that boat from under a thousand for boat, motor and trailer to about eight thousand.

Thanks for the information, greatly appreciated.