Howdy y'all, being the learning mutant that I am, I've run into a little trouble and am not sure of the best remedy. I put down a thin coat of Minwax Helmsman urethane varnish on a Tern yesterday afternoon, and many sections were still quite sticky this morning. The problem areas seem to be independent of the age of the epoxy, ie., some areas where the epoxy was only a few days old were fine, and other areas that were months old were gooey. I sanded the epoxy before application, but did not use soap and water to clean it before I began. My solution thus far was to hoist the thing up to the ceiling (more heat), cranked the furnace, and let it sit for another six hours. Still lots of sticky areas, others that are nice and rock-hard. I then took mineral spirits and a rag to the surface, and removed what I thought was all gooey areas. Then I washed the whole boat with soap/water, and just sanded it with 220. The result is that I am still detecting some soft varnish areas.
Is it easier/better to apply more solvent, or keep trying to sand off the soft varnish?
What do you think was the original cause? Residue from the epoxy curing process, maybe candle wax dripped from secret Warlock meetings held clandestinely in my shop? Most importantly, will it likely be "safe" to reapply the varnish after getting the old gunk off, or am I (the consummate newbie) missing something important?
Thank you for any timely posts, as I shall have made my next mistake within about the next 4 hours. Putting this thing in the water Friday, and whether I'm glued into the cockpit is of no consequence.

Cheers to all,
Bob