I would go with soda blasting, having had the bottom of my boat done with sand. Soda is less destructive. As G says, what comes off is NOT environmentally benign (especially on these older boats where tin paint may have been applied) and has to be caught and gotten rid of properly. I think most companies who are doing soda blasting are wise to this and know how to do it. The bottom of Blue Note was done with Interprotect 2000/2001 a few years back and is holding up nicely, so far. If done right it is just as fair as it was new. David Sommers did his boat with West System and their barrier coat last year and got good results as well. I think the prep and care in application have more to do with the quality of the outcome than what you use- as usual.
As far as peeling the bottom- don't. No less an authority than Tom Slane advised me against it. It isn't required, and can substantially weaken the bottom in the chine area, enough so that delamination of the side of the hull has been observed, with catastrophic results. Blasting to unroof blisters and get a good tooth for the new coating to adhere to is adequate for what you want.
Several years ago I paid about 9K to do this on my 36 Hatteras. This included sand blasting, all yard costs like haulout and storage, drying for several months, fairing with VC Watertite, seven or eight coats of IP 2000, bottom paint, and relaunch. I thought they did a good job, although it took too long. However, the bottom was DRY when they recoated it, after several months in the winter wind at Crisfield, MD, where the wind never stops blowing. And, as I said, so far so good. I would expect that a 53MY would cost proportionately more.
