I have had my boler for nearly 20 years, but time and money have prevented me from giving it the attention it deserves. When we bought it, it had beige household paint on the lower half (and original gel-coat on the upper half).  We weren’t fortunate like people who get a trailer with unpainted gel-coat. You can remove the oxidation from the gel-coat and buff it to a high gloss. Paul did that for our Surf-Side. It was gorgeous. 

However, our boler had a horrible rolled-on paint job. So, in our infinite wisdom and limited funds, we primed and painted it again with a roller. This time, we took it one step further, and sprayed on rock guard on the front before painting. Even with primer, the marine paint never properly adhered to the rock guard. 

What a sad looking little trailer!

 Major flakes over the rock guard   

So,  I bought a random orbit sander and got to work today. Wow!  Are my arms, shoulders, and hands tired! I hope I’ll be able to pick up the sander again tomorrow!

I bought a Makita BO5041K because it has two handles. That has really helped.  I used 80 grit sandpaper, but I think I should have gone more aggressive with 60. 

 Original green gel-coat (front, curb-side)  
It is very challenging to remove all these layers.   

Back, curb-side   

The gel-coat looks surprisingly good. I wonder if we can give this trailer a Rat Rod look. 🙂