I always reckon painted hull, with varnish on the deck. I would varnish the deck first, then mask off and do the paint on the hull. If you pull the tape whilst the paint is still wet, you get a really nice edge. You can do hull followed by deck, but that tends to give a yellow varnish line on light paint. To visualise a fully varnished boat, just wipe it over with water after sanding. This has the advantages of less obvious scratches, but a bit too woody for my own boat. Paint over varnish is fine, if you can't decide - but I'd rather pick one then get on the water.

Arrgh... I put some paragraphs in there to make sense, which have gone. I am suggesting wetting to visualise the all over varnish look. Then I suggest a varnished hull makes scratches less obvious - not that wiping with water has a mystical rock repelling effect!

Another option, which I have used and prefer, is to varnish the deck to a masked line, paint the hull to the same line, then cover the slightly uneven line with 1/4" black marine vinyl tape. This method results in a very professional looking job. The tape shows no sign of failing after three seasons of hard use in both salt and fresh water. -Wes