I did the second coat of varnish on my deck last night and did not have a fun time. It seemed like the varnish did not want to lay out flat, it was almost like it wanted to bead up (lots of brush marks etc.).

Is the solution to this problem to thin the varnish a bit? The guy at the store told me that I shouldn't have to thin it at all, but this is annoying as I think that by the time that I have sanded the varnish flat I will be back at square one (I have no illusions that my sanding/cabinet scraper technique is good enough to avoid sanding through the varnish in a few spots).

Am I just extremly varnish challenged, or is there just a fundemental problem that I am not aware of?

I am using epifanes (sp?) with "high uv block"

Thanks,
JJ