I've run into the not-drying-scaly-varnish problem. The boat's marine-grade plywood, epoxy covered, sanded to 220. I put on one last coat of clear epoxy, sanded it the next day, and scrubbed it with hot water, dishwashing detergent and a stiff plastic bristle brush. I rinsed with a lot of cold water and dried it with two towels. Then I brought it inside, waited about a half hour so any moisture still on the surface might evaporate and put on a thin coat of Interlux Schooner varnish. Now, the workspace was basically unventilated and lined with plastic drop cloths to form a paint booth. To further control dust I sprayed water all over the cloths and the floor (I was having a hell of a time keeping the dust out of my epoxy and this technique seemed to help for the very last coat.

That was Saturday night, now it's Monday night and the varnish is still a little tacky and scaly. What happened? And what do I do now?

Is the only option to remove the varnish? Is there an easy way to do that? (I've opened a window and put more heat in the room and now the varnish is starting to become dry to the touch in spots.)