Is this a kayak or a piece of furniture ?
I spent months getting a perfect finish only to scrach the hell out of the bottom slamming up on shore. The aft bottom has bear wood showing. It only looks new for awhile, I even scratched the top a bit with the paddle attempting solo re-enties. Do you plan on paddling it or looking cool... It's a chick magnent. You may have to build another for significant other in no time.
With varnish, lots of very thin coats are better than 2-3 thick coats where one may run.