I've done both paint and gelcoat ...

Painting is faster and easier ... but is a thinner barrier coat and "Hobie Beach Landings" wear through it quickly ... w/ the fine NJ/Md beach sand here the first land can be enough.

Gelcoating: Gelcoat provides a much thicker barrier coat but is more difficult to use. Most imprtantly you MUST get the Gelcoat w/ the wax additive!!! You can brush it on and sand it down or you can thin the gelcoat and spray it on. For the bottom I would be inclined to brush it on ... you will need to sand out the brush strokes (Wax on/Wax off Daniel-san ... a far amount of sanding)but the thicker coat is what you want... If you spray it on the biggest problem I had was "little brown spots" that never cured ... took me awhile to realize it was "compressor oil" from the compressor coming through the airline ... you need to use "airline filters", a compressed air "dryer" is really nice if you have a shop that well equiped! I haven't tried one of those "electric sprayers", they may work well ... I just don't know.

Sanding: start w/ 180grit wet/dry to cut of the wax ... next 200grit... 320 ...400 ... 600 ... 800 ... 1000 ... 1200 ... 1500 ... 2000 and finaly 2500 ( if you want to take it that far) ... buff and wax. You will have a surface smoo...oooth and fast ... it will have a translucent shine that is beautiful. Most people stop at 600 grit but it will not shine and have the translucentcy. You can get the wet/dry sandpaper at a "professional" Auto Body suppy Distributor. ( the principles are just like one of those beautiful paint jobs on a "custom car")

Harry
H18mag/P19MX