Money cost is not the issue
Chris, thanks, I have never seen this site - of course these dont look like marine products either, but they look great. My 2 cents on finishes FWIW is that the money cost is so small its irrelevant - whether you use Minwax or an ultrahigh end Epifanes or Bristol finish, the difference in materials cost would probably be less than $100. That is dwarfed by the time cost, however - the dozens of hours of labour that these projects can take (or any other project on a boat for that matter).
I was drawn to Minwax poly because several ericson owners have used it with success. Also some who have used a marine varnish have subsequently observed that if they did it again they would use a polyurethane. Plus having to put fewer coats down has to be worth something. So I am still unsure what to do, but leaning to some polyurethane solution.
Thanks again, Roger.