Mike, Thanks for the response, and pics. I could find nobody that has Varathane of any kind in this area (Albany, NY). In fact, out of about 15 places I tried, I found only 3 that carried exterior water-based polyurethane! The first place that had it wanted 18 dollars a quart, and only had one quart in stock. I forget what the brand was there. I finally found a little marina store on the Mohawk river catering to motor boats that had several quart cans. The brand is
Z*SPAR Captain's waterbased polyurethane varnish 4015 Gloss. I reluctantly bought two cans for 20 dollars a pop because I didn't want to wait for mail or ups. Later I found another hardware store that had quarts for 17 dollars. I will recount my possibly disastrous results in a separate post, probably later today.
mike

: Do they carry Outdoor water-based Diamond Coat Varathane? It is polyurethane.
: I have used it before over 10 oz polyester with excellent results.