Bottom paint removal

Thanks to all the replies to my previous posting requesting advice on bottom paint removal. I finally had my 1984 E38 hauled out and decided to go with having the yard sand (or grind) off the 19 years of paint accumulation. The decision to go this route was made after reading the 12 submitted comments and talking to several yards. It took the yard 10 hours to grind it all off. There were lots of swirl marks left on the gel coat that I asked the yard about fine sanding out. They said there was no need since the barrier coat would smooth it out. This turned out to be the case. After I applied 3 coats of Interprotect 2000E epoxy barrier coat the bottom was smooth and fair with no sign of sanding marks. and after I applied 2 coats of Trinidad SR the bottom looked better than ever. I'm glad I made the decision to have the yard do the grinding since there was bottom paint dust everywhere on the exterior of the boat and even some worked its way into the interior. Furthermore, putting 5 coats of paint on the bottom in 3 days was hard enough work by itself. I'll be thrilled if I go another 19 years before having to repeat the process. Happy sailing, Peter
ps. The boat had no blisters!