: Does anyone ever finish the hull entirely including the varnish before
: turning the boat over to start stripping the deck? I thought of masking
: the hull while it sits in the cradle for deck stripping. This would
: protect the hull from any damage or scratches while the rest of the work
: is done?

You will need to sand off any varnish at the sheer when you tape the seam. I don't see much advantage to going as far as varnish. I leave the finish sanding of the epoxy until the boat is all together. If it gets scratched up before then, the scratches will be sanded off anyway.