David,

The oils in the wood are what is messing up your varnish job. Clean all of the sticky crackly varnish off, and resand the cocobolo. Take it outside and wipe it down very thoroughly with fiberglass wash (the stuff with the big skull and crossbones on the front of the package), this should remove the oils from the surface. Wait for the fiberglass to evaporate (don't breath or touch the stuff), then revarnish as soon as possible. This MAY work, it did for me but there was still on small tacky area in the varnish after a few days.

Hope it works for you,
Mike

: Has anyone had trouble varnishing Cocobolo (maybe bad spelling, but the black
: and yellow Mexican hardwood)? Varnish won't seem to dry on the stuff.

: I apologize for going off topic, but when I get this vanity done I can start
: paddle and boat building again.