Decided against planing the bottom. I didn't like the idea of pulling good glass off just to remove the gel coat. So, today Bicki and I started grinding the gel coat off. It's a dirty, tiring job. The best tool we've got is persistence. The second best tool is a 7", fiber-backed, 36 grit sanding disk mounted to an 11,000 rpm 4-1/2" angle grinder. Getting through the old bottom paint is almost as bad as removing the gel coat. It's time to switch to ablative paint. Phil Jones (P.L. Jones Boatyard, Hooper Island, MD) recommended an epoxy primer followed by an epoxy filler for the areas where the gel coat has peeled into the bootstripe. Phil also said to leave scratches in the bottom's fiberglass, it'll help the Interlux 2000 grab. Here's some good news, I haven't found a single blister.
The prop had some dings on the end of the blades. Used a 6lb hammer as a bucking bar and with a 2lb hammer hit the prop. They did an amazingly good job. I can't tell at all where the damage was.
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