I will answer part of my own question...

I just applied my first coat of Epifanes Monourethane "Oyster White" to the interior of my Annapolis Wherry.  I had already primed it with one coat of Interlux Pre-Kote and sanded it smooth as a baby's butt.

Since the weather has been quite hot here in Ohio, on the advice of someone at Epifanes, to the 750 ml can of paint, I added about 18 ml of Epifanes Easy Flow, an oil mix that extends the drying time to aid in maintaining a wet edge and it acts as a leveler as well.  I applied the paint with a Whizzer 4" foam  roller (from Lowe's).  This is a fat, soft, very fine foam roller as opposed to the thin foam over cardboard rollers that I have seen others use.

The result was pretty astonishing.  There were no bubbles generated by the roller at all! No tipping of any kind required, and the paint laid down perfectly!  Very little tendency to sag on vertical surfaces and no orange peel texture.  I was working in an 80 degree garage and the paint allowed me plenty of time to work.  Overall, for a first coat I am extremely pleased!

Peter

What a coincidence !  I have just completed my Chesapeake 16 (still to sand) and have managed to find a source of Epifanes varnish & paints out here in South Africa, where I live.

As I shall be painting the hull and varnishing the deck, I had perused the Epifanes website for paints.  The choices seem to be their so-called "Yacht Enamel" or the Mono-eurethane.  Your post has me thinking.

Please could you keep us up to speed with your results.

I just wish we could get decent foam rollers out here ~ not much choice.

Dave

I would suggest using the Monourethane instead of the enamel.  The urethane is much harder and shinier than the enamel.  Enamels will yield an old-school look, with old-school performance.  It is a much softer paint.

Thanks for that.

"Mono" is what appeals to me. I used a two-can mix on a dory I re-built eight years ago.  Wonderfully hard and shiny (and expensive), but with two-can mixes touch ups become a problem.