: I remember lots of posts about varnishing with rags. Does anyone feel like a
: quick primer, 25 words (or more), or pointing me someplace? I've just
: completed sanding down my Coho and would like to get it (re)varnished in
: the near future (it is getting warmer in central NYS).

: Among my questions is how to deal with hatch openings - gotta keep the
: gaskets free of varnish. Hate to remove the gaskets, but tend to be a bit
: sloppy. Should I mask over them, be REAL careful, or is there a Plan C?

: After starting to dry sand, I wet sanded it and that seemd to go a lot
: better. My plan is to wash it down with car wash detergent and rinse it to
: death, letit dry and then go over it with a tack cloth.

: Comments, warnings and advice welcome. Thanks

Varnishing was a real mystery to me so while I was building my boat I was watching the board for tips on varnishing from the different members. I put several ideas together that worked for me without having any varnishing experience. I used a MinWax polyurethane varnish that dried in 4 hours, so I could get a complete coat on in a day, hull and deck, and one day I did two coats with no sanding between coats. I had 7 total coats. I use Rehd’s method of hand wiping, which went on very fast and easy and virtually eliminated runs. About 15 minutes wiping time. I use Bounty paper towels dipped in the varnish which didn’t tear up and leave a residue. I use Rob Mack’s idea of not using above 220 wet grit sandpaper between sandings. That give a mechanical bond to the last layer of varnish and knocked off any high places in the varnish, yet I didn’t spend a lot of time doing needless sanding. The last coat was Rob Mack’s use of a foam brush to get a thicker last coat and then tipped of with that brush to eliminate runs and bubbles. I wore throw-a-way rubber gloves so there was never a mess from the hand wiping of the varnish. This system worked out well for me as a rank amateur that I was.

John