Fellow Sailors, if I may, I would like to impart my experience, success and foibles in painting my topsides.
I've been painting boats for a while however not for several years and things do become forgotten. Painting with boat paint is a bitch, here's what I learned again!: first, never sand with coarse sandpaper. I wasn't getting the results I wanted so I used coarse paper and then painted which caused the paint to be hazy. I corrected this with fine sandpaper and smoothed the rough gel coat out. Second, I used the recommended foam roller which loaded a great deal of paint, too much in my opinion, I didn't like the results so went with a very smooth no lint regular roller on the second coat and the results were better. Now this next mistake I knew about but thought since it was a cold April day in New England and the sun not at it's zenith that I would paint my port sun facing side in the sun, big mistake, the paint dried within seconds of the application which caused marks everywhere. Also, if you have a toe rail, don't paint up to it with a roller as the paint will gather there and run, instead, paint half an inch to the rail and then use your tipping brush to paint up to the toe rail which will better control the paint distribution. And the final foible was an unanticipated one. My outboard motor fuel line was on deck and the fuel line fitting unbeknownst to me was leaking due to the heat of the sun creating pressure in the tank. Unfortunately it ran onto my brand new paint on the aft topside. However through all this, my topsides shine like a mirror, I recommend Jamestown Diestributors WetEdge Topside paint (I have no connection to the company nor do I receive any compensation from them).
I've been painting boats for a while however not for several years and things do become forgotten. Painting with boat paint is a bitch, here's what I learned again!: first, never sand with coarse sandpaper. I wasn't getting the results I wanted so I used coarse paper and then painted which caused the paint to be hazy. I corrected this with fine sandpaper and smoothed the rough gel coat out. Second, I used the recommended foam roller which loaded a great deal of paint, too much in my opinion, I didn't like the results so went with a very smooth no lint regular roller on the second coat and the results were better. Now this next mistake I knew about but thought since it was a cold April day in New England and the sun not at it's zenith that I would paint my port sun facing side in the sun, big mistake, the paint dried within seconds of the application which caused marks everywhere. Also, if you have a toe rail, don't paint up to it with a roller as the paint will gather there and run, instead, paint half an inch to the rail and then use your tipping brush to paint up to the toe rail which will better control the paint distribution. And the final foible was an unanticipated one. My outboard motor fuel line was on deck and the fuel line fitting unbeknownst to me was leaking due to the heat of the sun creating pressure in the tank. Unfortunately it ran onto my brand new paint on the aft topside. However through all this, my topsides shine like a mirror, I recommend Jamestown Diestributors WetEdge Topside paint (I have no connection to the company nor do I receive any compensation from them).