Rick,

I had a similar problem on my Arctic Tern. I finished epoxying it (with System 3) and left on a two week vacation to Mexico. I came back sanded and varnished it (with Interlux). One week later the varnish was still tacky and looked like alligator skin. I removed the varnish with laquer thinner and bronze wool. I sanded it down again then washed it with Interlux 202 Fiberglass Solvent Wash (VERY TOXIC STUFF). I varnished again (with Z-Spar Captain's) and had no problems (except for the third eye that appeared after the solvent wash). I attributed the problem to blush, I did not wash the kayak prior to varnishing the first time.

I had a similar problem when I tried to varnish a cocobolo carry toggle. Cocobolo is a waxy wood, I left the varnish on for over a month and it stayed tacky the entire time. I may try epoxy over the cocbolo, then varnish.

Mike

: Hi all, as a long time lurker and sometimes poster, I finally need a solution
: to a varnish problem. Building, and just about done, a Stillwater Canoe,
: applied a 1/8 Bocote' deck fore and aft, after applying 2 coats of resin,
: I applied spar varnish to the deck and gunwales. After drying in the
: basement for 3-4 days the varnish was still tacky in places, not on the
: oak gunwales but the deck only. Drying time on the epoxy was a couple of
: weeks, so I don't think that was the problem. I scraped the soft varnish,
: rubbed out the scraped area with lacquer thinner and sanded the rest.
: Re-varnished and still tacky in those same areas. Help? I am hoping to
: take the canoe to the Saginaw Wooden Boat symposium next weekend. Thanks
: in advance Rick Dery