: I am reaching the end of my Malco SUP build. I am building this for
: my wife so I am attaching a pink traction pad on the deck so I
: can't be accused of building it for myself.

: My question is should I varnish everything and then place the self
: adhesive backed traction pad on the deck or place the traction
: pad on the scuffed up epoxy and then varnish only the exposed
: deck/hull? I am mildly concerned that the pad will slowly peel
: off over time if I varnish under the pad due to the varnish
: aging normally and gently disintegrating.

Can't wait to see the finished product. I would varnish first just for ease of not having to mask off the pad. I see no need to varnish under the pad. You could just varnish first, and not varnish where the pad goes (except an inch or two inside the lines), then stick the pad on.