> I AM SANDING IN PREP FOR VARNISHING MY CHESSIE 18 AND KEEP SANDING THROUGH
> THE EPOXY. AT LEAST I THINK I AM. BEFORE I CAN REMOVE THE LITTLE ROUND
> MARKS LEFT BY THE ORBITAL SANDER I SAND THROUGH AND GET LIGHT SPOTS WHICH
> I ASSUME MEANS I HAVE SANDED THROUGH THE EPOXY. I HAVE PUT 4 COATS ON THE
> DECK (WHICH IS WHERE I AM HAVING THE PROBLEM ) AND RE-COATED AFTER SANDING
> THROUGH ONLY TO DO IT AGAIN. ANY IDEAS WOULD BE HELPFUL.

Jim,

Sand by hand. Use 60 or 80 grit paper, or if you think it is smooth enough go to 100 or 150. Its really not too hard. I did all the sanding on my Chessie 16 by hand (used a sanding block for the flat surfaces on the hull). You have a lot more control sanding by hand, your hand can conform to the radius of the cambered deck, and because you are using less sanding power you can go to a coarser grit (initially). I'm not a luddite, just a poor grad student and can't afford the toys - yet. So I started hand-sanding by neccessity and, when I can afford a random-orbital sander, will probably only use it on the flat areas.

HTH. -bem