: Hello All,

: This posting is for novices like myself.
: The final varnish coat. I stapled up 2mil plastic drop cloths all
: around my boat to avoid dust. The bottom was sanded and wiped
: down several times with denatured alcohol. My entire shop was
: vacuumed including shelves.
: I proceeded to apply a perfect final coat on the bottom of the
: hull. I proudly stood back and smiled. This is a rare occasion
: for me... I very carefully squeezed out of my shop, closed and
: latched the door. I did not go in back and forth
: to inspect my work as I have previously done with prior
: applications of varnish. That I'm sure contributed to the specks
: of dust all over the surface.

I agree with Stephen, give wet and dry sandpaper a try, unless you really want to put another coat on for UV protection. I would be tempted to save the extra coat for a season or two, and then it can also serve to deal with those inevitable scratches.

To use the wet and dry, leave the deck until you are certain that the finish is good and hard. I would suggest at least a week or so from when the deck was last coated. Use a firm but not hard sanding pad and start with 400 grit. Use lots of water, and wipe the area you are working on off regularly with a clean rag to see how things are progressing. The idea is to fair the run back to the previous deck finish while removing as little as possible of the deck finish. 400 grit with water will remove more material than you might think, so keep an eye on it. As soon as the run has disappeared into an even, dull surface, go on to 600 grit, and then, (if you can get it - try an automotive body repair supply place) some 1000 and 2000 grit. With each change in grit, remove all visible scratches left by the previous grit. You will need to finish off with some polishing compound to get the gloss to match the rest of the deck. Use a light touch and monitor carefully, and you may be surprised how well this works.

Good luck,

Allan Edie

: Three days later I inspected the boat. It was a successful
: application and was dry enough to turn over with the deck facing
: up. The varnish creeped underneath the sheer and ran onto the
: deck surface....I had taped the sheer line
: like I was supposed to, but the masking tape somehow leaked the
: varnish underneath and onto the deck. Should not have placed the
: sticky side exposed to the varnish. Sticky side of tape facing
: down, it allows the excess varnish to run down the tape. I tried
: scraping the hardened part but as Nick Shade mentioned on a
: recent posting, the ends should be rounded off, I think we
: should all do it. I was thinking about it while I was scrapping.

: The runs were still soft, I picked up an ice cream stick and
: started scraping. It turned into a gooey mess. Then I took a rag
: and saturated it with denatured alcohol and scrubbed the gooey
: mess. The scrubbing did the trick. It wiped off 90%. I could
: have gotten all of it had I known earlier, as 10% was already
: hardened .

: I will still have to sand and re-varnish the deck. That is an easy
: task for me as I can't even begin to count how many times I've
: done this before and has become enjoyable task as it offers some
: positive re-inforcement when I see it shine.
: This also forces me to apply additional U.V. protection to the
: deck. The previous coat of varnish was very dry and on a well
: sanded surface, so I am not too concerned that the denatured
: alcohol will damage the previous application.
: Prep today varnish again tomorrow
: douglas