...when I decided to make sure I was getting a good coat of varnish right down to the gel coat. One week in the hot sun and that blue tape was a bear to remove. (probably old stock tape from HD). I lived with sticky areas left all over the boat that just seemed to attract and hold dirt... it looked terrible.

I got desperate and tried several versions of "sticky remover" only to discover that none of them really worked well, or made an even bigger mess.

Finally I discovered that a bit of denatured alcohol just wiped that sticky residue right away... it didn't take much alcohol... just a touch on a rag, and the residue was gone. (uh, kills the wax too... FYI)

These days I varnish with a large brush and very small brush... and use the small brush to get in as tight as possible. But I don't use tape. I also keep a rag right at hand for quick wipes. This year I have about 4 good layers of varnish on most of the brightwork... No doubt due to the stuff I use... this will be a regular ongoing task. But I now seem to have a method that works and doesn't take too much time.

Yeah, I still use Le Tonkinois... it doesn't smell like a chemical factory, and it is pretty tolerant of application conditions.