Hi Larry --
I had the same problem that you are encountering. I sprayed spar varnish on and then finished my plugs with e-tex. They looked beautiful! When fishing them in salt water, the plugs started to show problems. The varnish seemed to crack or buckle under the e-tex. This happened on quite a few plugs - all that were treated with spar varnish. I now use bin oil as a primer. I cut it 60 / 40 and actually dip the plug into the jug and hang wet and dripping. Allow plenty of time for drying. I then use my airbrush and createx. Final finish is e-tex and they are holding up OK.
The problem was not only with AYC, but with other woods also.
Catch you on the beach last week in June ??
