Re: topside paint chipping
Take a look at the boat in my avatar. It was gelcoat before (2001 model). Constant waxing, chalking of the gelcoat, tough to get clean, etc. We opted to have it painted with AwlGrip. The gelcoat must be sanded to a smooth finish and then cleaned/tacked prior to paint. The paint has to be mixed properly and then either sprayed on or applied in a roll/tip method (look online for specifics). It takes about 8-10 hours to 'flash', giving the paint plenty of time to flow smoothly before curing. Second/third coats need to be applied in a specific time period or they don't bond properly. This takes a professional a while to learn. Newbys can learn also (everyones starts sometime, somewhere), but should be trained to do this, not try to learn on their own. Personally, that paint doesn't look like AwlGrip to me. Unless it was a small project to learn on, I wouldn't tackle a boat painting job. I would leave it to a pro.
Best money spent on my boat so far. Boat is always shiny, even if it's dirty. Usually hoses clean, sometimes a little soap. No waxing. It used to take me 4 hours to clean the boat top to bottom because of the staining, now I can do it in less than an hour.