ray lunder replied:
"I heard driers can lead to earlier failure as the varnish will crack
sooner and require recoating. I just use a foam brush to apply. The
expensive brushes I borrowed didn't make any difference with the tiny
bubble problem and they're hard to clean. This seemed to show up much
worse on new construction wood than older, restored trim. The bubbles
become less of a problem the more coats are applied. Spraying got rid
of the bubbles but left a kind of orange peel. French polishing never
got me any kind of gloss to speak of.
I'm not any kind of an expert I just figure whatever I do is light
years ahead of what it looked like before so it's all good. Most
people are blown away by how good my amateur work looks and no one has
gotten down their with their bifocals and said, "ooow, nasty pimple
rash here, laddy,..".
Yes, it's true, varnish will make you prideful."

Hi Ray,
I am using such a tiny amount of the drier I am not going to worry for
now. The straight varnish would not fully dry on the thicker spots like
the slight run along the bottom edge for even 4-5 days I discovered. I
am curious though, have you heard of any problem using driers along with
adding the Marine Penetrol to the varnish? Any chance that would
mitigate the cracking issue?
I tried using foam brushes but couldn't get good results - about the
same as using a really cheap brush, lots of bubbles and runs.
The results with adding the Penetrol has convinced me to keep using it
on each layer for this piece, although I know I will still watch
carefully for any sign of degredation over time, and recoat every
spring. The old coat of indoor polyurethane lasted from the factory for
one short season before going nasty, so anything right now is better
than that. I'll let you know after this season how it worked out.
I also just read something in an article on refinishing that said to
wipe down all exterior varnish with a clean rag and fresh water after
sailing to get all traces of salt off. It said that salt crystals act as
tiny sunlight-focusers that speed the degredation of the varnish.
Red