Sand. Varnish. Sand. Varnish. Repeat.

In the last post, we left off with Perseverance having her first coat of varnish on the deck.

First layer of varnish (Petit Z-Spar Captain's Varnish)

 Then, according to the instructions, I lightly sanded the surface.

Lightly sanded with 220 grit. Note the bands or stripes across the deck.

The light sanding left some very noticeable side-to-side banding. I assume this is caused by high and low spots in the surface. My best guess is that the uniform pattern of these bands is due to the bending of the plywood. In any case, in spite of the bands, I added another coat of varnish. 

The second coat of varnish looked MUCH better. However, in several places, the side-to-side bands were still quite noticeable.

Second coat of varnish.

So, I decided to give the second coat more than a "light" sanding. Again using 220 grit, I sanded it more persistently, until the side-to-side bands were all but gone.

Sanding the second layer of varnish.

Sanding the second layer of varnish.

Then, I added a third coat of varnish. 

Third coat of varnish

The third coat looks better. Next... do it all over again! This time I'll probably sand it with 400 grit.