Varnish
Looks like you have had a problem with getting good adheasion with your finish. You didn't say what you used to refinish the wood with 2 years ago. I find varnish looks good, but is a pain. BUT, when applied right, and with enough base coats, sanded between coats, and dried right, can be beautiful and last more than 2 years with only a little up keep. Prep work is more than half the battle when working with wood. The way your finish is peeling off it would appear that perhaps it is the prep work that is the problem. Time to get out the sander and take it down to bare wood again. How ever if the prep work for your new finish isn't what your into, you could try just wiping the wood with Penetrol, although it won't look as nice as polished varnish, a quick coat each spring and fall is all it takes. There are a whole bunch of other quick finishes that don't require the work varnish does, from a quick wipe down with teak oil, or boiled linseed oil, to a finish like Cetol. If you would like a letter on how to get top knotch results with varnish, let me know and I'll go through all the steps. Most people skip many of the steps and get good results, but if you have a problem, you probably missed a step that you needed to do.
