Over 42 years, the bottom paint had crept up way beyond the water line of the boat (especially in the back)

Plus the appearance of  gelcoat cracks and blisters and the fact that too many bottom paint layers prevented good adherence of fresh bottom paint

Meant it was time to strip bottom back to bare.  Using  West Marine Safe Stripping Paste and a hook scraper, I began removing the old layers...

...and removing more old layers….

...and even more old layers….  Wow, the original topside gelcoat color is RED!

After sanding with 80 grit, til I couldn’t bear to sand no more (although in retrospect.. I should have sanded some more), I primed the topsides bare spots with  Interlux PrimeKote ...

New Bottom For a “Good Old GIrl”