I have followed this thread with no small degree of fascination from the start. There are so many lessons to be learned.
While the pilot can legitimately be faulted in many ways - I think that perhaps his greatest failure of judgement was the 'decision' to go "VFR on top" of an overcast with the consequent necessity to repeatedly climb using up more fuel. I know that he has claimed that he could see the ground and navigate visually, but I am inclined to take that with a pinch of salt as others flying in the vicinity found 8/8 oktas. Had he stayed down low there would have been a different outcome in my opinion.