: Any boat supply store should have marine enamels. You don't want
: one labeled for hulls, you want one designed for topsides. Yeah,
: they say they aren't meant for use underwater, but since we
: don;t store our boat in the water for all their lives, they work
: just fine. You can get these enamels online from WestMarine,
: Defender, or several others, or check the website for a West
: Marine store near you. www.westmarine.com, www.defender.com, and
: store locator for
: West Marine is:
: http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/AjaxStoreLocatorDisplayView?langId=-1&storeId=11151&catalogId=10001

: These companies list paints and enamels under "maintenance
: products" in their catalogs and online. West has Pettit and
: Interlux products, as well as several others. They also have a
: house brand.

: A quart will give you 2 to 4 coats, depending on how heavy you
: apply it. More than enough. Most people seal their fabric with a
: clear urethane or polyurethane, and then paint over it. You
: might be able to do the sealing and finsih color at one time, or
: at least with a single product and several coats with this
: enamel. I haven't tried it myself, though.

: If you are looking for hardware-store items then you need an
: exterior urethane or polyurethane for sealing the skin fabric.
: On top of that you might use a polyurethane enamel, like
: Varathane, in an opaque color. Or, look for Rust-Oleum, either
: in a spray can or by the pint. For many years the galvanized
: steel SCUBA air tanks were painted with Rust Oleum yellow paint.
: It holds up well under water, and it is readily available at
: Walmart, K-mart, Sears, Home Depot, Lowes, etc. at a reasonable
: price.

: Hope this helps.

: PGJ

Paul, Bill etal,

Speaking for all of us first timers thanks to all of the respondents who are so helpful in sharing their experiences. One reputable, concise posting saves hours of crawling thru past threads.

Just to be clear, when you talk about a clear urethane, are you are referring to a varnish? So for a proper sealing and smooth, gloss finish I am looking at two coats of varnish followed by two coats of topside paint?

I work in a boat yard and have checked with the factory reps for the various marine finish companies. Their response was that they could not recommend any of their products as they had no experience in how it would adhere to fabric or what the stretch properties are. Thus the real world experiences shared here are invaluable.

Cheers,

Bill Padin