>>Did you recommend the CLC foam brushes

        They've always worked for me, much better than the DIY store ones I tried

>> even a different means of applying the varnish?

        I've also rolled it on and then tipped it out with the same foam brushes. That worked well for the undercoats, but the top layer always looked better applied with the foam brushes.

>>I know that CLC's tips say to use foam brushes with wooden inserts into the foam, but this is not what they are selling.

        Yes, that's a shame. I preferred the old ones but apparently they are no longer available.

>>What size brush do you use?

        Same as you

>>Do you thin the varnish so that there is less drag and more open time

        No

>> Do you use different techniques for applying the varnish on a larger boat

        Just the roller as mentioned above

FWIW, even the new plastic insert brushes have not broken for me. EIther you have a bad batch or are pushing a lot harder than I do. I've also noticed that if I push hard I get bubbles that aren't there when I push lightly.

Good luck,

Laszlo

��I did most of my varnishing on my skerry with the foam brushes. While the ones from CLC were better than the big box, they still deteriorated faster than I expected. I did my rails, breasthooks bright and painted the rest, but I also varnished the spars rudder and board. Lately I've been going back to a bristle brush and may stick with it. I don't have the super fancy hand made badger bristle with brass fittings made for stupid sums by Olde Worlde craftsmen. I got a couple decent ones from the hardware store. Clean them with mineral spirits and wrap them to keep flexible. Schooner varnish flows well and I don't seem to get many bad spots. Just keep a light touch and not too much varnish in the brush or runs happen. Mind you, none of my work will ever go in a museum but from 10 feet, looks pretty good.

Right, that's a good goal: "from 10 feet, looks pretty good."  <;-)  We also found that paint can look pretty good from closer than that, so we limited the varnished areas on our Passagemaker Dinghy to the outsides of the bow and stern transoms, and the curved doublers in the inside above the bow and stern seats.

My son, who, together with his bride (she's a pretty good hand with a brush--I'm a klutz) was going to take charge of the painting, initially wanted to varnish the whole business.  I responded, "it's a boat, not a Martin guitar.  Varnish is a tool of the devil meant to enslave mankind to his own vanity.  Paint is God's gift of grace to fallable boatwrights to cover their imperfections."  In the end, he was glad I talked him out of it, as even the small areas he did varnish vexed him some.

But, don't let me discourage you, Brett.  By all means, get a decent hardware store brush as suggested above and try that.  Even the small areas we varnished were giving us some the same troubles you describe until we went for the brush.  He also found it helped to tilt the areas some so they were less vertical (our PMD is a take-apart)--easier to avoid runs.

Good luck!

.....Michael

   Gramps -

"Varnish is a tool of the devil meant to enslave mankind to his own vanity."

Best. Comment. Ever.  

You folks are great! Much thanks. I enjoyed the laughs too!   

   Brett,

I varnished the decks of two Chesapeake kayaks and still remain very pleased with the results, despite being a complete and total "klutz with a brush", I ended up with what I consider a five foot finish.

Before varnishing the boats I looked around for alternatives and found a couple of articles about wiping varnish. 

https://www.popularwoodworking.com/techniques/finishing/the_basics_of_wiping_varnish2

Which seemed to be nothing more than thinned varnish that was slopped on and immediately wiped off. I tried a couple of coats and was very impressed with the finish.  This gave me the confidence to go ahead and start brushing on the varnish, with the thought in my hjead that if I completely screwed up I would just sand down my mistakes and finish off with a number of coats of wiping varnish.

When brushing with the foam brushes I had the same problem you described with the brushes breaking, I kept my back pockets filled with spare foam brushes and the second one broke I would replace it and keep moving. The end result being that the more I varnished the better my technique became and I didn't need to go to  the wiping varnish backup plan. 

I finished the kayaks with a painted hull and a bright deck and despite how well they paddle the most pleasing thing to me when paddling is watching the deck grain come alive in the sunlight.

Have fun,

Dave

 FWIW, my local Ace Hardware carries foam brushes in which the wood handle extends into the foam.  I’ve found these to quite sturdy.  The printing on the handle carries a registered tradename “POLY-BRUSH” and they are made in the US by JEN MFG.

hokker

That is inspirational, SignsEHT! Hokker, I will definetly see if I can't find those. Very helpful - thanks everyone!

I might manage to get another coat on before getting on the road for a spell, but likely will have to wait until May. In any case, that gives me a chance to see if I can't find those better brushes.

I found the same brushes that hokker mentions above at Viking Lumber and they work so much better than the ones available at CLC. The wooden stick penetrates the foam and is split on the end so that it contains a rectangular pies of plastic that is stapled in place. This keeps the foam reasonably stiff. The CLC brushes chatter as they pull through the varnish and quickly become staturated, floopy, and unusable. The JEN MFG brushes stand up far longer and always glide smoothly. I completed a full pass on my Chester Yawl interior, the floor board, seat and foot rest with a single brush (though it might be I shouldn't be so frugal and should have changed it). I would recommend folks find these instead of other brushes.  Much thanks to hokker for recommending them!