Removing paint from gelcoat antislip surface

[Greg]

Has anyone had to remove several layers of paint (4 if I had to guess) from the gelcoat anti slip surface? I'm hoping (praying) there is an easy way to do this. From the picture it looks like it started as factory blue, then vomit yellow, then Manly Ferry green and for the grand finale was painted (with what looks like no preparation) baby poo brown. There may be more, the mind boggles.

Googled it and I've found paint strippers, most of which are extremely expensive and recommend not to use on gelcoat that has crazed or cracked (the gelcoat has probably crazed and cracked).

Once its all off i'm happy to resin over the antislip sections then paint it with antislip paint - I just want to avoid doing any structural damage in the process.

Any help or advice would be great!

[atles]

Hi Greg !!

i hate to hog the forum and am trying to stay off the board so others can have a say
but as no one has posted yet i will jump in and help you out

best thing to use i have found is a orbital sander buy them for about $39.00 at bunnings
and some 80 grit and 60 grit sand paper believe me i had to do all the boat !!
sanding is the most labor-intensive method. It’s messy and takes countless hours of hard work. The process consists of removing the paint boat finish by manually sanding it away inch by inch foot by foot
keeping the power sander moving. Never push down too hard on the sander or hold it on one location for too long.