Has anyone re-gelcoated their entire hull themselves ?

Not the hull, but had the entire cockpit professionally re-gelcoated
about 8 years ago. It was expensive, about a grand, and took several
days. Major dings and cracks were filled, then the gelcoat was sprayed
on, sanded, compounded and buffed down, more spraying the thin spots,
repeat, etc.; ended up looking like new. Maintenance since then has
been the same old thing, buff and wax.

Awlgripping, painting and the like is less expensive, looks great
initially, less maintenance as it oxidizes more slowly, but is very
hard, prone to chipping, and difficult to repair. As far as I know,
it's a one way street, once painted, only aggressive sanding is gonna
return the surface back to fiberglass for re-gelcoating, an
unbelievable task. That being said, some top end boats come from the
factory painted.

Re-gelcoating is becoming rare (around here) these days, primarily
because of environmental regulations concerning the solvents.
Re-gelcoating a hull would involve some major equipment, money and a
moon suit.