The recomended thickness of each coat of paint is 4 mils. I also recommend picking up a mil guage to verify thickness. sand, fair, repeat. Tipping out after you roll on does wonders. 

   It looks to me that the paint is applied too thick, and also isn't flowing out. You seem to have good coverage for only two coats. On my recent build, it took three to get that same degree of coverage. My technique is to roll it on with a foam roller as thin as possible until I've mostly run out of paint on the roller and then very quickly tip the paint out with a brush, usually running lengthwise on the boat. The paint sets up fast, so you really have to hustle with the tipping out. And you will want to use the thinner recommended by the manufacturer.  It takes VERY LITTLE to get what you're looking for, usually much less than a capful, but it works wonders. I didn't use it on previous builds, but the last one, with the thinner, looks like a spray job. The pace required is much faster than you might imagine. On large boats, the process usually involves two people, with one person doing the rolling and the second following immediately behind with the tip-out brush.  I try to do it by holding the brush in my "neutral" hand while rolling, and then immediately shift hands for the tipping.  You need to sand the existing paint with probably 220 until it's smooth, then do your wipe-down and put on the third coat using the afore-mentioned process.  

   Thin the paint. Roll and tip...check out youtube on how to do that. Don't try and fix minor problems while you roll and tip...you will cause more problems than its worth.

Like any good artist ...know when to stop and walk away.

Purple scotch brite between coats.

Watch your temp when applyng the paint. 

Good luck and don't be to hard on yourself

Dean

   What does tipping mean?

   Thanks all. 

So...i hand sanded below the waterline with 120 and I'm back to smooth. Didn't really lose much paint. I've ordered some thinner and will roll and tip the rest of the coats with thinned paint. 

It defintely needed to be sanded and i feel much better about it now. Plus, i only did the side pieces, not the very bottom. So wasn't bad at all. 

it's been a good exercise. I've learned that I defintiely need to apply paint with thinner in my environment. And I've learned how to walk back a step on a paint job. I plan on doing more boats so I consider this good practice as much as getting a good finish on my skiff. 

Again, thanks for the replies. Very grateful for this forum.

   Yes, when you think you have sanded enough, you are probably just starting, if you are going for that "piano" finish.  I didn't have the fortitude to get it to that stage, so I used a little Flattening Agent in my green for the outside of the hull.  With that and going with really thin coats like said above, I've got a pretty good "10 foot finish".  Not as glassy as Brightsides can be, but has a nice satin sheen and the smaller goofs are less obvious.  I still get lots of compliments on the water by passing boaters. And I'm learning to worry less about dings and nicks.  That's what the off season is for, to touch up those.

   Reporting back...

I ordered and am using some Interlux 333 thinner in my paint and that's helping a lot I think. However...

I'm painting the bottom of the JimmySkiff II, working in small sections from one end to the other. I have found that by the time I reach the opposite end I started from, the paint seems to have thickened up and acting sort of like it did before i started using thinner. 

Over a few coat I've tried a couple things. First, I've been stirring frequently between sections. I've also been getting a fresh foamie every few sections (roll/tip), and I've doubled amount of thinner i'm using. 

Those things seem to help but I'm STILL getting to the other end with applied paint that is harder to tip out than when I started.

So, it just occured to me, one thing I've NOT changed out from bow to stern is my foam roller. Maybe the paint in it is tacking up? 

Does this sound familiar to anyone? Any thoughts?

And more reporting...

I'm wet sanding between coats with 400 grit but I don't think i've been doing it right. It's been a real light sand  and i've been leaving 'bright' spots and I think they're building up. I'm sanding for my final coat and I'm wetsanding until bright spots are gone. We'll see how it looks. 

   To me it looks like the paint was cold or the boat was cold when applied and it didn't lay out. Also need to be careful when painting on vertical surfaces it doesn't run or sag. I'm see a lot of sagging. 
sand it smoothe and try again 

Bob, thanks for the reply. 

Boat and paint weren't cold, they live in conditioned space at no less than 65 deg. As i've put on more coats, I think my between coat sanding was poor. I was wetsanding with a block and noticed as I sanded that it created 'streaks' of sanded places, not level sanding. Not sure why. It's like the block itself isn't flat or the right shape for wet paper? 

What seems to have helped tremendously in subsequent coats is for me to wet sand by hand, trying to keep my fingers flat as possible. After these sandings the surface was smooth to the touch rather than 'bumpy'. I'm painting above the waterline now (more vertical surface), using my hand sand method, and the coats look super smooth. Different color paint though (Brightside light blue as opposed to Brightside Sea Green) and i've read that somtimes colors go on differently. 

But also like i've mentioned, I've since been thinning quite a bit with 333 and maybe that's helping too. I'm assuming thinner coats helps reduce runs and sags?

   Since there's not a lot of truly flat surfaces on a boat, I wound up taking an old sanding sponge (they clog up and stop sanding and cost too much to just keep tossing) and wrapped a piece of sandpaper around it, just holding with my fingers while sanding.  It's got just a little flex in it to fit the curve of the sides and be easier on the corners.  I was dry sanding, since I had a vacuum w/ a HEPA filter to help clean up the dust.