Boating Geek

By   Kevin Falvey Learns the ins and outs of two-part topside coatings. Advil had become as much a part of my spring make-ready kit as paintbrushes, grease and wrenches. That’s because I usually spent four days swinging a rotary polisher to remove the cloudy-white oxidation and return  Breakaway ’s finish to glorious. All that work would carry the glossy, dark-blue finish from April until about ­ mid-July at my home port in the Northeast. Were I a lower-latitude boater, the more-intense rays of the sun would require me to haul the boat and refinish it sooner. But there is another option: paint. Now, the best finish coatings are two-part paints. That’s what the pros use. That’s what companies like Hinckley Yachts and Hatteras apply over gelcoat to achieve the toughest finish with the best gloss, color, flexibility and resistance to abrasion and chemicals. That’s what your local boatyard with a paint booth and the great rep will use. But historically “two-par...