I will second what Bob Lowe says about the paint. Do not use Bher primer. Although some have used "house paint" on their boats, I use boat paint on my house--because it is on the water in Florida, where there is high humidity and lots of UV rays. Even the top grade water based paints do not hold up to the salt spray, high humidity and UV rays. Most likely on the trawler, waxes and silicons were not adequately removed before the previous paint job. You will have to sand down to the gelcoat--hopefully this is in good shape--if it is not, take the boat down until you are to solid material--fill cracks and dings--and then sand fair. Put on coats of two part epoxy primer, sanding between coats. The Easy poxy does give a decent finish, but not quite as good as a well sprayed two part LP, such as Awlgrip. The Easypoxy will probably be good for 2 to 4 years and the Awlgrip up to 10 or more years--since the biggest "cost" is the prep, it pays to go with the top quality paint. Two part LP's can also be brushed, with a brushing reducer. I personally think that Sterling is easier to brush than Awlgrip--but in my experience it does not last as well as the Awlgrip. The Diamond pattern was common on many boats. You do not have to sand it off. Use a quality power wire brush (one which has stiff wires, twisted) to get any loose paint off, clean it well with dewaxing solvent and wash it with soap and water. Any dammaged diamond pattern can be repaired one of several ways. If it is a small area, fill with an epoxy filler, such as Marine Tex and then use a Dremel tool to re-create the diamond pattern. Do not use Bondo. If it is a large area, then you can make a female mold from another good part of the deck, use this to lay up new sections, using gelcoat, glass mat and resin.. After the diamond is repaired, prime the entire deck with a roller and two part epoxy primer--then add the glass beads to Sterling or Awlgrip for brushing and roll on one or two layers with beads--you can use a foam brush to tip in the areas you cannot get with a roller. Put a final coat on with no beads in it--the beads will break out--the final coat prevents this. I like an off beige or lite gray on the deck--cooler and easy on the eyes. Painting a boat is not like painting a house--it takes a lot of prep. My father used a flat paint which chalked slightly on his wooden boat--he painted it every year--it always looked good--but never "perfect". The flat paint was easy to blend in and touch up if necessary. Bob Austin