A difficult decision to repair

I've been feeling pretty good about my fiberglass skills this week, and decided to take a hard look at a mistake I made. Despite being very careful I still cut the cluster bracket/aft root support hole too big on the aft end. My turtledeck was not perfect, there were already evidence of some repairs made at the factory.

I took a day and looked at it, and ultimately decided I had to fix it. Gulp......

IAW various sources, I drew a 12:1 slope and carefully sanded the inside down...

Then I made a backing of scrap cardboard and saran wrap as a backer. 

The manuals offered differing opinions about starting with small pieces and building out, or starting with large pieces and finishing with small ones. I did a mixture, using West Systems 205 fast hardener.

 And of course, Saran Wrap as a sealer until it dried.

Yeah, I laid it on a bit thick. I can always sand the excess off.

I had nightmares of epoxy running through the backer and running down the outside of the deck, making a mess. Just a couple small oozes that were scraped up with a fingernail. 

Then I sanded the patch down until there was a small depression. Safety glasses for sanding, you ask? Believe it or not, they're safety glasses with "cheater" lenses built into the bottom for us old guys.

The depression was then filled with gelcoat. Leveling the deck allowed the gelcoat to flow and fill into the depression. I hoped.

Yes!! It worked. 

Just like a big model, sand carefully and feather...

A couple of touchup spots. 

The reward is wet sanding with 400, then 600, 800, 1,000, and finally 1,500 sandpaper. THEN a lambswool buffer, followed by a foam pad and polish.

Spots to fix. 

I'd think it was perfect when looked at outside, then I'd take it in and look at it under the florescent hangar lights. Back out I'd go for some more sanding, buffing, polishing....

Here's what the are looks like on a finished and well flown SeaRey.

Remember reading about resin cooking off as it sets? Here you go.