While I'm waiting for the 6th coat of varnish to harden on the hull, I've started to varnish the mast. Yes, I'm an idiot for not varnishing the mast all along with the six coats on the hull! But I managed to get one coat on so far. Today I cut the slot for the mast crane, fitted the crane, and drilled two holes for through-bolts. Next, I'll remove the mast crane and return to varnishing the mast. Notice too that I soldered a brass tube to the mast crane. It is to hold a wind indicator that I'll make shortly. Should work well... I hope! More later. Aloha!

Today I did the first coat of thinned varnish on the hull. Over the past four days, I've let the hull cure and harden. It then sanded quite easily. For the most part, I didn't completely remove the orange peel but just flattened it a bit. The varnish should take care of the rest of it after 5 or 6 coats. Then wiped it down with mineral spirits. I'm using Pettit's Z-Spar Captain's Ultra-Clear Varnish . The can says that thinning usually isn't needed, but I added some mineral spirits regardless. Will probably do so for the first two or three coats. While I've always claimed that varnishing is a dark art practiced by masochists, it does have it's benefits. It can hide a ton of flaws; scratches, slight orange peel, etc... Once it's built up, it can look fantastic. I'm part of the "roll and tip" school of thought for varnish. The idea is that you use a small, 4" disposable foam roller to roll on a thin coat, then you go back o...