IanM wrote:

Ronald Raygun wrote:
IanM wrote:

Yes, same small rollers on a long handle.

No, I meant big rollers on a long handle. My experience was that the
2ft handle which you normally get for the small roller was too short
to get both hands on (and it's awkward to hold the bare wire with the
other hand, while the first hand is on the proper grip at the end), and
too heavy to wield with just one hand, and so I changed to normal size
rollers on a handle which telescopes to about 5ft, and use both hands,
generally about 2ft apart.

I meant what *I* am using. I'd like to see you try to get a big roller
on a 5' handle behind a radiator! VBG

I should try attaching a broomstick to a short-handle small roller.

Bear in mind, my draft is only just over 4' and even with the blocks and
cradle, my waterline isn't far from eye level. You may *need* a longer
roller while I am working comfortably one handed. YMMV

Draft, and hence the height I need to reach up to, is not the problem,
my draft being not much more than yours, at about 4'6. Comfort is the
key word. There is no way I could work "comfortably" even on a flat
vertical surface (such as a house wall) much above eye level or below the
belt (no double meaning intended). The less I need to crouch or crawl
the better. And with a boat of course the negative slope makes it worse.
I always ached for days afterwards when I used to antifoul one handed,
no matter whether using a big short-handled roller or the normal radiator
roller (small with 2ft handle). Perhaps it's because I'm a wimp and my
drinking arm doesn't get enough exercise.

With a long handle, and both hands on it, I can reach up to the waterline
and down almost as far as the keel from a comfortable standing position
while still applying a decent amount of contact pressure. Only for the
lowest-down bits do I need to crouch down behind the props.

Also I find it convenient to work with a small roller and a big tray

Yes I also found that the small trays didn't work too well.

Then you need a 'jumbo' tray for a big roller - more paint wasted caking
up the equipment ;-(

I don't need a jumbo tray but I think I see what you mean, you can't
completely immerse a standard roller in a standard tray, but I get by
all the same.

I only need one roller each year and it's enough to do 4 coats. Between
coats, the roller goes in a plastic bag to prevent it drying out and
hardening. I've never had one break up. But I do use pile, not foam.

2 people so 2 rollers, the third is not always needed, but I didn't want
to over claim - especially in *THIS* thread. :-)

I see. The job's so unpleasant you feel you need to halve your exposure
to it, and foist the other half on a reluctant but willing slave who puts
up with it in return for the joy of being asked to crew for you. :-)

The technique I've evolved, on the other hand, has reduced the discomfort
to such an extent that I now actually enjoy it so much that I want to do
it all myself and don't need to recruit an assistant.