It's removeable....Just hooked on by the lip at the base of the bed and stays there by gravity. We simply lift the thing up 2-3 inches and slide it back onto the bed as you mentioned. Get it set to teh proper height and you'll sleep not even knowing it was there. (I added a 2 inch memory foam to the top when we overnighting)

yup

I do mine with a flat black sandable primer. Looks pretty good and very easy to touch up, for those times when it's a little too shallow and the lower portion of the skeg gets into the sand.