I painted the mast on our boat three years ago. I work in the Auto Industry so I use Imron, a epoxy paint made by Depond. Imron is used on aircraft and race cars. It is ez to repair and not as hard as Algrip. I went to you automotive supply house and bought a areasol primer for allumnum. I removed as much of the hardware off the mast as I could, sanded and "DAed" the mast, primed and strayed the Imron. I sprayed the mast out side on a windy day so one side came out a little better than the other, but at 10 feeyt looks great. The boom I strayed inside and it came out almost perfect! If your going to paint you mast you might think of some kind of mast speader bracket mod.at the same time.
There are some Marine epoxy paints that can be rolled and tiped. You could talk to one of the piant reps. at a boat show or on line for more help.
John McArthur "Smiles"
