Sanding to 220 grit is plenty - any finer, and adhesion will start to suffer. The swirls should not be a problem with either the varnish or the polyurethane.

As for letting the material dry before recoating - it is easiest to let dry, lightly sand (again 220 is the finest you should go), and recoat. You can recoat while tacky, but it can be a little tricky - you've got to do it at the right time - a window of a couple of hours - too soon and you will have sags, too late and you will get poor adhesion.

4-6 coats of varnish - 2 -3 coats of the Britesides. Dust free is a relative term - but any dust will show up in the final coat. The real problem is that the dust actually absorbs the finish and increases in size after it hits the wet surface. Dust in the intermediate coats is easily removed by a light sanding. The final coat is critical - you can vacuum, sweep, let everything settle, wet floor with fine water spray - this really helps.

As for the overlap, the paint edge needs to be sharp (taped) on each coat, otherwise the color will show through where you want clear varnish. As for the varnish, you can get it on the paint, and sand it off for intermediate coats - but the final coat should be taped off. My recommendation is to use tape on all the coats -it only takes a few minutes to tape a seam.

Great article on varnishing in Wooden Boat Feb or Mar '97.

>