WETTING OUT

Now we are getting down to it. Basically there are three processes. (1)Wetting out, where you spread the poured epoxy over all the glass, (2) distribution, done immediately after spreading, and done with a roller, to distribute the epoxy resin evenly. When you look you can see that some of the weave is full of resin, and other parts are not. You use the thinnest nap roller to, ideally, distribute the resin equally. But don't spend forever. You get another chance on the second coat. (3) "Tacking down" - the worst thing is when the fiberglass has been stressed, or is making an abrupt bend, and won't stay down. Using the aluminum "washer roller" shown in the next photo, GENTLY roll over the fiberglass as the epoxy gets barely tacky, or starts to get a little sticky. This also removes the inevitable air bubbles that come out of the wood as well as the fiberglass - a really important step if yuou don't want a bunch of petrified bubbles to sand out. Remember, everything is done gently - fiberglass cloth hates stress.
Also note the long fiberglass tail hanging into the hatch openning - and note how the adjacent side does not have a tail. I was going to epoxy right down into the sidewall of the hatch openning, but got over that quick because the bend was too abrupt. In general I found it best to, once the fiberglass is smoothed out and in place, but before wetting, to trim off the excess along the edge to within 3/4". That gives you enough to hold onto for the razor trim after the epoxy has gotten very tacky ("gone off"), but not so much as to lift the edge up.