Myself I like to remove all bottom paint including the barrier coats. 1
coat of Dow's Ends all Rust to stop microscopic scale, 2 fresh coats of
epoxy barrier min, applied on a very DRY(under 25% humidity) and
hopefully warm days. A full day of curing on the last coat of epoxy,
then fresh coats 2-3 rolled on, not sprayed ablatives. On steel I do
not use a copper based antifoulants.

We are planning on pulling in may-june. The current bottomjob is 3
years old, the longest I've ever gone. Plus I have some new underwater
lighting I plan on installing on the keel, new knot meter, new forward
looking sonar and zincs, and removing old generator underwater exhaust
pipe.

Joe