Bottom paint? Removal or paint over
 

My parents Formula 242 sits in the water in the boat house all during the summer in Algonac Mi. When we got the boat the previous owner painted the bottom black with antifouling bottom paint. I never liked the look of the black and I think they painted it too high in the bow. Now has come the time to do something about it because the paint is pretty faded. I have a couple of options here
1. repaint the bottom black again
2. strip all the old paint off and leave just the gelcoat
3. strip the existing black bottom paint off and repaint with white bottom paint
4. apply white bottom paint over the existing black bottom paint.

Again this boat sits in the water during the summer. Their previous boat did not have bottom paint and sat in the water was lightly stained and turned the bottom brown after 1 year. How badly does bottom paint stain the white gelcoat underneath? Has anyone applied a different color over bottom paint and how much bleed thru did you get? If stripping is an option what would be the most economical way, media blasting with walnut shell, dry ice or stripping it chemically?

Here is a picture of what it looks like now
[ATTACH=CONFIG]538787[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]538788[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]538789[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]538790[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]538791[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]538792[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]538793[/ATTACH]

To be honest I would go option 1. Your looking at a lot of work doing anything else.

Chances are with the age of the boat if you stripped the paint and went back to the gel you'd get a lot of blistering if it sat in the water for any length of time.

i don't like the look of the black where it follows the chine up the bow either. if you wanted to remove that, start with a powerwasher and scraper. it is made to slowly wash away, but that part isn't submerged so it won't. do some homework on what stripper will work without hurting the glass. glassdave will probably have the answer. or find some red bottom paint close to hull color and paint that part. or white would look better than the black. the bottom paint below waterline? only the fish see it. screw em. leave it alone or touch up the thin spots.

Soda blast it off to see what you have underneath and go from there

I think I remember dave saying oven cleaner?

a couple of forums did say easy off oven cleaner worked. i must stress this point. anti-fouling paint is POISON!! that is how it works. even marine plant life is smart enough to avoid it. but we humans lie under the boat and scrape away with that stuff getting in our eyes, breathing it, etc. most boatyards by me powerwash only. what doesn't come off gets painted over. if scraping dry, tyvek suit or at least hooded sweatshirt, face shield, respirator. especially respirator...