: I'm still glassing the hull of my Great Auk. As suggested, I scraped the
: highest spots, and used a board on the gentle humps. Both with very
: satisfactory results. I put a third coat of glass on the stem and stern
: and put a fill coat on the rest of the boat. I will have to apply a few
: more fill coats.
: My question is about final fairing. Do I have to leave the last coat of epoxy
: alone (unsanded) or can I fair (80 grit longboard) that too and rely on
: the varnish over a sanded coat of epoxy restore the transparency?

Before you varnish fair with 80 grit and final sand with 120 grit. Afer sanding, I like to wash with ammonia and water to get rid of that epoxy dust that seems to cling to the hull.

Don't expect the varnish to fill any imperfections. In fact the shiney varnish surface brings out the imperfections. Get all of the imperfections you don't want to live with out of the epoxy surface before you varnish.

I use a leaf blower to blow the dust out of the garage at least a day before varnishing. If I had more room I would also create a plastic sheet tent to varnish in. Mist the floor with water and wear newly washed clothes. Every dust speck will show.

Wet sand 220 grit between varnish coats. I use a spray bottle of water with a touch of liquid soap. Rinse with lots of running water. Wet sanding keeps the sand paper from clogging and also keeps the dust out of the garage.

If you want the perfect finish polish with Meguair's #1, 2 and 9.

Check the archive a lot good ideas have been discussed before.

Read before you start:
http://www.greenval.com/FAQvarnishing.html.