This boat had approximately 3 layers of bottom paint that was in poor condition and had to be removed since I didn't know what kind the last layer was and didn't want to overcoat it in that condition.

To remove this mess I started with my trusty palm sander with the coarsest grit I could find...and what did I get....a big cloud of red dust and little headway breaking through the layers, not to mention gummed up sandpaper. I quickly realized this was not going to work. My next approach was to purchase some marine peel-away paint stripper. THIS STUFF IS A MESS.....It is the consistency of mayonnaise and is designed to be liberally painted on and covered with the supplied "special" paper, left to cure for 24 hours and "easily" scraped off. So let me just say....I'm sure this stuff works great on a single layer of relatively new paint, but in my case it was just a disaster. They don't supply nearly enough paper, this stuff drips on everything, including me when applying it, and it in no way could get through the layers of paint on the boat. What a waste of time and money.

Now was the time for action, I logged on to my best online friend----EBAY!! Found a newly refurbished Hitachi 7" angle grinder with sanding attachment for $70.00 and within a few days had the tool I should have started with in my hands. This thing is great, it has selectable speeds, a wrap around handle, not too heavy and very powerful! On my way to the boat, I grabbed some grinding disks for keel and some sanding disks for the bottom 36 and 50 grit.

With eye, ear, and respiratory protection I got to work. In a few hours I had the bottom down to bare fiberglass with minimal gouging and a big smile smile on my face. It was dirty, but it got the job done. With the grinding disks, some wire brush and sanding disks I was able to grind the keel down at the same time!

This tool requires a little bit of finesse, it spins fast and can gouge the hull very easily.....oh and by the way...CONCENTRATE....my knees were cramping up as I was grinding the paint away, so I moved and didn't pay attention to the spinning disk and cut right through my thick work pants and into the skin....not fun...took a long time to heal was well!