: So my next step is to sand & varnish them, a couple weeks from now.
: Can you experts give me some hints and best-practices for this task?

Daniel,

Here is one URL with some varnishing info; http://www.greenval.com/FAQvarnishing.html. There are others out there but I have not kept track of them as I have a process that works well for me. I found some things in making two boats that worked poorly and some others that worked very well. You can do a search of this bulletin board on "varnish" and find a wealth of information.

If you live near Lake Sammamish then we are not far apart. I will send you my (real) email address and phone number separately. I will be glad to pass on what I've learned.

Ted