: Rick,

: I don't follow you, how is varnish 'hard' to find? Or was that just a joke
: that is 'hard' to get?? ha, ha.

: Joe

Nah, I'm not trying to be obtuse, though having fun with words is not beyond my desires...

To be plain, I went to Loeh's, Target, Sherwin-Williams, Home-depot, Walmart, Sears, and Meijhers. All of them had Helmsman Spar polyurethane. (Well, Sears had the Varithane equivalent) None had outdoor varnish, much less one with good UV blockers. Being Dayton, Ohio, there are not a lot of boat building hardware stores about... So I could have paid to have a quart of Capt Jack? Capt Black? (sorry don't remember now) mailed for about twice the cost of the PU... I asked about the the PU here on this board - it seemed to hold up on other's boats. It has on mine too.

Sorry if my answer was too cute... I just wanted to mention the idea of availability as a reason some might choose Spar PU.

Rick