It has been quite a process doing the finish varnishing and I have learned alot. First of all I learned to have NO ventalation for at least 1 hour after the varnish is set. This was a bit problamatic since I was doing this in the basement but I drafted the upstairs through the other side of the basement which I had cut off from the "varnish room" with plastic. After 1 hour I then ventalated the room from a window on one side out of my shop window with an exhaust fan. This reduced much of the dust but not all. I also learned about varnish techniques from the
CLC post and from the
One Ocean Kayaks. What I found key was to first unload the brush vertically and then brush down horozontally and then spread it. This helped eliminate the drips, runs, sags and "holidays"(skipped spots).
Below is my friend Lou who followed me around on the last coat watching for any drips, runs or holidays. However even with his help I was not pleased with the final finish of the deck and ended up sanding it once again with a wet 400 grit and doing a 6th coat. This has come out well as you can see above but there are still some dust specks in it. This is frustrating but I found comfort in the fact that it took GM years to eliminate dust from their final clear coats.
Below is the seat from Redfish Kayak. I've tried it and with a few adjusting cuts it fits perfect. I will actually be sitting less than one inch above the water on this closed cell foam.
I'm anxious now to finish and will be installing the soft padeyes, bungies, paddle park bungie, next, bow and stern ropes and seat. My goal is to do my test paddle in one week.
It has been quite a process doing the finish varnishing and I have learned alot. First of all I learned to have NO ventalation for at least 1 hour after the varnish is set. This was a bit problamatic since I was doing this in the basement but I drafted the upstairs through the other side of the basement which I had cut off from the "varnish room" with plastic. After 1 hour I then ventalated the room from a window on one side out of my shop window with an exhaust fan. This reduced much of the dust but not all. I also learned about varnish techniques from the CLC post and from the One Ocean Kayaks. What I found key was to first unload the brush vertically and then brush down horozontally and then spread it. This helped eliminate the drips, runs, sags and "holidays"(skipped spots). 
Below is my friend Lou who followed me around on the last coat watching for any drips, runs or holidays. However even with his help I was not pleased with the final finish of the deck and ended up sanding it once again with a wet 400 grit and doing a 6th coat. This has come out well as you can see above but there are still some dust specks in it. This is frustrating but I found comfort in the fact that it took GM years to eliminate dust from their final clear coats. 
Below is the seat from Redfish Kayak. I've tried it and with a few adjusting cuts it fits perfect. I will actually be sitting less than one inch above the water on this closed cell foam. 
I'm anxious now to finish and will be installing the soft padeyes, bungies, paddle park bungie, next, bow and stern ropes and seat. My goal is to do my test paddle in one week. 
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