Having never varnished before you're really jumping in the deep end with both feet! Perfection can be tricky to use and is inherently a bit dangerous. Personally I'd rather start off with a good one-component traditional varnish like Captains and then use Perfection on your next boat. Oh yeah, there's always a next boat.

First the two-component Perfection Varnish is a modern urethane coating. The isocyanates and thinners are pretty nasty. Be sure you do it outside with plenty of ventilation and use at least a good half-mask filter with new organic cartridges. That's the big one.

Second, you only need 2 or 3 coats for protection: 3 on the hull, two on the deck. I will do 3 coats on the deck if I'm going to polish it out. 5 or more coats is more typical of traditional 1-component varnishes. I usually start with a coat on the hull, flip and coat the deck, then hull, deck and finish with a final coat on the hull. Be sure to sand lightly between coats. Don't worry about getting a line at the sheer. The grain of the wood hides a lot. I feather the edges out about an inch. When your done you'll never notice it. If you do get a line you can always wetsand and polish it out. BTW The directions on the can are pretty good...

Perfection is fairly THIN. It's definitely not thick! Being so thin, it's is a little tricky to apply without getting a lot of drips and sags. It needs to be applied in thin layers. It likes to self level. I usually roll it on with a 3/16" mohair roller and then tip it off lightly with a badger brush. I work one small section at a time. A good 2" foam brush will work but they fall apart pretty quickly. Work the surface as little as possible.

Perfection Varnish is very nice stuff once you get used it. It's water clear, very rugged and has a wonderful gloss. It's all my little shop uses now... If you decide to go with it, please do it safely!!

/ Dan

: I am doing the last sanding getting ready to apply the varnish. I will be
: using Interlux's Perfection Varnish. Should I alternate deck then hull,
: sand, deck then hull and repeat 5 - 6 times or just complete all the hull
: coats first? I was wondering if alternating would leave less of a blend
: line between the halves. I have never done any varnishing before so I
: don't even know if varnishing leaves a thick enough coat to worry about,
: but I have read that the Perfection Varnish is thicker. Your thoughts?