I can't say that makes me a whole lot happier with what I may be facing. So for a newbie that knows nothing about pools this is looking like a potential nightmare. I sure hope a solution is easier than I am thinking it could be.
like I said in the original post, I know 3 stones need to be replaced around the coping. Once I replace those 3, I was thinking about finding a place that will seal the coping with deck-o-seal plus. I can't seem to find any reviews on this forum or much online besides the mfrs site.

would this fix this issue caused by the saltwater pool? Or is converting the pool to chlorine an easier option?