Mike,

Brightsides touches up pretty easily. It's the one time I'd recommend using a reasonably high quality bristle brush rather than rollers or foam brushes. They clean up pretty well and you can use them the next time you want to touch up. The steps I've used are as follows:

1. Dry sand the affected area with fine grit (320 is good to keep from removing too much material). Feather the edges.
2. Thin some Brightsides because you don't want to put it on too thick and want to be able to feather the edges. I use Interlux 333 Brushing Liquid.
3. Apply the Brightsides to the affected area. It helps to for all the strokes to be in one direction and to feather the edges. It is better to use 2 thin coats than 1 thick coat, though one thin coat is all I've ever needed for cosmetic touchup.
4. Let the paint cure for at least a couple of days. Longer is better. Wet sand with 320 grit (or finer) and then buff by hand with a very fine compound. Should make the touchup disappear.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Dick

Thanks Dick, that is helpful.

Mike   

   Does that technique work on varnish, too? I may need to do some end of year touch-up on my dory.

Birch2,

Unfortunately, I have no recent experience with varnish, I've avoided it for at least 30 years --- since I learned better. I suspect that modern transparent finishes have improved since then, but I know little about them.

Sorry,

Dick

I routinely do 'touch-ups' on both varnish and paint during the season or between seasons if the boat doesn't require a full refinishing.

the technique described above works and is pretty much identical to how to approach it with varnish.  for me, a number of times, i wont even bother thinning the paint or varnish. 

my approach is a little light hand sanding with a 300 or better grit and just to use a foam brush and use the minimum of paint or varnish (almost like a semi-dry brush) which lays down a very thin film. i try to keep the whole 'touch up' area as small as possible. 

these touch ups are really only visible upon a very close inspection,   

another approach i use short of full refinishing the whole boat is to paint or varnish a single panel/facet.  the physical break between panels makes it difficult for most people to see the transition from the 'touch up' to the old paint/varnish.

all the best.

h