> 1. I sanded my deck and hull with 80 grit. Recoated with epoxy
> and have now sanded with 120 then 220 grit. When I wet the surface
> I can still see a lot of small swirls (from the 120 grit on the ROM
> I presume). Do these swirls need to be completely gone prior to varnishing?
> What about for painting? (Is paint thicker, therefore able to fill
> small cracks).

Mark,I've used Interlux Brightsides over 120 sanding with fine results. It's a thick coat that goes on smooth with a good brush. I did have an adhesion problem with Matrix Adhesive epoxy, had to put an intermediate "sealer" coat with another interlux product. I was very impressed with that, it fills in the voids and sands real easily. Next time I will just sand the epovy with 80 grit, coat with sealer, and then wetsand it with 220 or better. You'll get a mirror smooth finish.

As far as varnish, I'll let someone else comment, I've seen better results than mine. I did also have a problem with the deck/hull joint where varnish spilled over onto the paint. In favor of paddling I let it go. On the redo I'll be more careful with the taped seam...