Do you want to strip it to bare Gelcoat?
I also have a H23 (1988) I bought in 2008 and just did this so I sympathize. Stripping and repainting became my all summer of 2009 project. How bad is the bottom paint and are you stripping off all the old paint? How badly rusted is the keel? BTW - Don Casey's books provide some great help for DIY bottom repair. If you plan to completely strip and repaint, use the chemical stripper to get off most of the paint, even then it takes several coats depending on how much paint you have on. Just take all the precautions, organic vapor respirator, protective clothing etc. Once you have it almost down to the gel coat, which will be tinted by the paint residue, then use a palm sander with 80 grit (or 100) to sand until it is smooth and clean white. Your warranty is long gone so it is OK to sand, and is necessary for the paint or barrier coat to adhere. Hopefully there will be no blisters. If so, thats a whole 'nother "how to repair project" that you can get detailed info on from WM and West system epoxy. If you are lucky and have none, I still highly recommend barrier coating with either the InterProtect or PetitProtect products for future peace of mind, especially after you done all that work getting a clean bottom. As for bottom paint, since like mine it is going to be in the water (mine is in salt at the NJ shore) during the 6 month season and winter stored on the trailer, antifouling Copolymer ablative is the way to go. I used WM PCA Gold (made by Petit) as it is less expenseive than the Interlux or Petit brand.
My iron wing keel was real bad. The paint on my keel was flaking from the underlying rust. Underneath it was badly corroded, not just surface rust easily brushed. I used a hammer and chisel to know off about 1/4 inch of bad metal, then used an angle grinder and many many wheels to get to clean bare metal, with grinding points on a drill to dig out the deep spots. There are many opinions on protective finishing, (some suggest phosphoric acid washes) but the main point is you must cover it fast once you get it clean and bare. I used Petit Rustlock paint, then epoxy coated it and faired with West epoxy with 407 fairing compound, and then barrier coat and then antifouling. You should not rely on paint alone and anti-fouling should never go directly on iron. I think many would agree an epoxy coat and/or one of the barrier (epoxy) coating products is the way to go prior to final bottom paint. Of course, with your being in fresh water, it might not be as critical, but after you did all that hard work, why take half measures.
The paint manufactures & WM as well as Casey's books are great sources a lot of helpful info on this.
Good luck
PS. Jim listed a great suggestion for getting under the bunks, which if you have the OEM trailer, can be lowered. If you can get, borrow or buy two boat stands you can do on side a time. I did the same thing and had an easy time of it, safely, with peace of mind.
RobertG
