Getting a shine on

After looking hard at the first coat of varnish I put on the still split mast, I decided I hated it. Too mottled with small dark areas from the hand sanding not removing all the old varnish and stains. Once I glued the mast back together, I also needed to get my fingerprints off of the wood before revarnishing.

So, out came the "mouse" and away went all the dark spots and bit of epoxy that escaped the clamped wood. Nice and clean and ready for a new coating of clean shiny varnish.

Unfortunately I needed to buy a new can of the stuff. The old can had turned into a jello like consistency.

To hold the mast up off of the table for varnishing, I stuck several pieces of 4mm scrap okoume ply into the sail bolt slot and used a pair of clamps to act as feet. this puts the mast up off of the table and sits it high enough that I can see beneath it to  add varnish to the "bottom". A week's worth of varnishing is infront of me, but it should be worth the effort!