Sanding sucks but it's inevitable even with a stripper. I used Total Boat's Total Strip and can recommend it. Most of the time I would slather it on, cover it with wax paper and about an hour later it would scrape off with ease. If I let sit for a little longer the wax paper would fall to the ground with the paint attached. I found that a large paint brush worked well to shovel it on thick, a paint roller made fast work out of larger areas and a car window ice scraper worked well to scrape off the paint (heavier duty than plastic paint scrapers). It should be noted that I was removing topside paint that a previous owner put on the bottom. I used one largish container for a 19' boat. I have a second, unopened container sitting around. PM me if you're interested in it