Gel coat help

[Cristi183]

Bought my first sailboat (36' mono 1992) two years ago in FL and the gel coat was already chalky but still very clean. I've lived aboard and sailed around extensively since then but w/ Covid and life I neglected giving the gel coat needed love until now. Getting ready to haul out for new bottom paint and the overdue buff/wax job. I have compound and wool pads and was planning to do myself but am going to have the yard quote me out for comparison.

I'm unsure how to tell any real damage my procrastination has done or if my fear that it's thinning by each day in the sun and wash/rain is rational.

Researching I have found the steps to do are 1) Wash area thoroughly 2) Wipe w/ Oxalic acid avoiding bottom paint 3) Rinse 4) Buff with compound and wool pads 5) Wax

How do I know if my gel coat has oxidized to the point of needed to be wet sanded? If my gel coat is in bad enough shape, sanding seems counter intuitive as it would be making the gel coat thinner, no? Is the oxalic acid necessary? Can I swap it for muriatic acid? I have a handful of small rust spots in a few areas that I'm hoping to get out, will the oxalic acid most likely remove them or is there a seperate process to treat them? Lastly, I have lots and lots of hairline spider cracks in the gel coat around deck. Will this process reasonably hide or fix them or again is there another process to add to treat them?

Any insight and advise would be appreciated!

[Blue Claw]

If I were you I would fly your father into town and make him do all the work for free.

[Benz]

The oxalic acid should remove rust spots, and also any browning near the waterline. You won't need to wet-sand the gelcoat--just buff it with compound. Even if it's getting thin it'll still get shiny, and it's amazing how easy it is to bring chalky gelcoat back to shine. In a few years if you're polishing bare glass you can paint it or re-gelcoat.
Buffing will not remove spider cracks; it they really bug you you'll have to sand them out and re-gelcoat. I advise learning to live with them.

[Tetepare]

^^^ this. Keep in mind dry gelcoat will easily soak up 2-3 coats of wax. Pick a small area. Compound. Wax. Wax again. Does it feel smoother and look glossier?