Must admit I'm not a fan of any form of "hard" coating, particularly to any area that might get damaged - it makes it very difficult to repair. So personally I'd always use an oil type protection so that it just needs a quick lick rather than a scrape back and revarnish/epoxy.
Olio is always good!
However, having said that, if it's an area that's not seen - eg drop keels, epoxy sounds sensible!