sanding gelcoat
 

I have some scratches in the gelcoat deep enough that after you wax and buff the hull you can see the wax left in the scratch. My question is this, how much if any can you sand the gelcoat before you damage it and if you can sand it do you just compound wax and buff afterward? Thanks.

There is no fear of damaging it but you do have to worry you sand so much that you got through it and start getting to the fiberglass. Hard to tell by your description just how deep they are but if your sure you can still see white gelcoat in the bottom of the scratches you could try sanding them all the way out and then compounding like you said.

What grit paper you plan to use?...before you start taking away, have you considered adding?...Gel Coat repair kit might be the thing...