I am in the middle of restoring a neglected DSII and have gotten to the point of repainting the hull, topsides and deck. The boat was painted(badly) with a dark blue paint(up to gunwall). I purchased a quart of Interthane 2 part poly last year in a bargain bin at Boat US and was hoping to use it for the topsides. The questions are.....the effort to completely remove the old paint down to the original gel coat is daunting so I am hoping to just sand it thoroughly and use a primer coat first before the 2-part Polyeurothane. I assume that will work and can probably find info on the type of primer to use. Now the big question.....it says to only use above the water line. How do I figure out the water line without actually taking back down off the crib I have it on and dunk it with appropriate weight on board to find the water line? Or should I just use the 2-part down to past where I assume the water line to be and use a bottom paint beyond that? Once that is done I can maybe dunk it and find the water line and then paint a (what is it called....coping stripe or somthing?) to seperate the two?
THanks for any suggestions in advance.
Tim