the guy who own the boat before me clear coated over the gel coat on the top half and it is flaking off. is there an easier way to get the clear coat off other than wet sanding it ? it is so hard because i have the snaps all the way around it. the gel coat looks great when i get the clear coat off and buff it. if i have to do it all by hand it will take forever.im hopeing there will be an easier way.  thanks

I really dont know.  But if it were me, I would start by calling a business around your area who does boat repair if they have had any experience with it.  Most of the time people are willing to trade some information.  You might even carry it up there make em think you want the job done, have em explain everything to you and then roll out.  But thats kinda sneaky.

depending how easily it is flaking off you might be able to power wash alot of the clear off, if not then wet sanding will probably be the next option.

The snaps on one of my boats were attached with phillips screws.  I removed them, did the sanding, and then put them back.  Be careful not to overtighten the screws as the threads will strip out easily on fiberglass.  Also, be careful not to sand away the gelcoat.  Do a Google search for "Island Girl" and look at their fiberglass restoration products.  They do OK on mildly oxidized gelcoat but severly oxidized finishes require sanding.  I also don't think they will remove the clearcoat.  Good luck, it will be worth it when your fiberglass is bright and beautiful again.  

Are you using a power buffer or doing the buffing by hand. If you use a  power buffer they make a cutting wax that will bring most of the clear coat off if it flaking enough. If you use this you will have to be careful not to get into the gel coat.

the sides and bottom of the boat the gel coat is real bad. somebody left it sitting in the water for a long time. i can sand it all the way down untill the flakes start turning silver and cant get it looking good. is there a paint that i could paint the whole thing a solid color? its a 1989 asroglass that i only paid $1,800 for, everything works, it has a johnson 120 that runs great but the boat just looks bad.

Your only choice on the top will be to wet sand it down.  It's not unusual for any re-gel job to eventually flake off, it's not a permanent solution by any means because the sun just eats away at it everytime it's out on the water or uncovered.   I've done a couple refinish jobs on boat top caps and you usually get around 4-5 years out of it.  As for the hull.  If you're down to the flake, wet sanding isn't going to help anything.  At this point you can either look at a new gel job or consider painting. Either way will require the boat to come off the trailer.  

One option you have is to respray the clearcoat. Once you get all the old sanded down then you can use a good quality automotive urethane clearcoat to spray it. If this is done be sure to mix a fast hardener in the clearcoat before spraying this will help to eliminate any small air pocket caused by wet sanding down into the metal flakes. You could also use a good quality auto paint to repaint the whole boat then spray the clear on top of it. when appling the clear i will usaully apply a lighter coat then let it tack up for about 15-20 min then i will spray on several heavier layers giving each time to tack up. Then i usally wait about a week then buff it.