Gimme a V.A.R.N.I.S.H. ... What does that spell!?!?! .... STICKY!

So we finally made our way down to Dowsar Marine where I was welcomed by a friendly staff that was very informative and pointed me towards the exact product I was looking for! They estimated the amounts of varnish and varnish thinner I needed: 4 cans of varnish for the whole boat, and one can of varnish thinner for the first coat of varnish.

 

 

The varnish was sticky, but so far, below is the result of two coats of 50/50 varnish to varnish thinner. You are going to want to mix 50/50 for your first coat so that the thinner allows the first layer of varnish to seep into the wood as deep as possible. This will provide the optimal foundation to build coats of pure varnish in order to get that final, seamless, glossy finish we all know, love, and salivate over. Through my research within the channels of Boatworks Today and Tips From a Shipwright, I learned a few helpful tips with respect to varnishing. Aside from you not wanting to put a huge glob of varnish on at a time, you are also going to want to have a spotter when varnishing. The job of the spotter is to observe you varnishing in a well lit area in order to spot any build ups or tears created by too much varnish in a given area. Below we can see my wife and I taking turns varnishing through this time-lapse. After consulting with Lou from Tips from a Shipwright says to use Mineral Spirits to purge the excess varnish from your brush in order to save your brush for multiple uses. 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, I would say researching and executing my first varnishing job went well. I will be continuing to add coats to these seat boards until we have reached the second coat of pure varnish (this achieves that beautiful classic glossy look on top of the wood). The reason I started with these two seat planks was to test how the varnish reacts with the wood as well as practicing my technique before fully committing to a larger portion of the boat.