I'm sure there are lots of experts out there, but I did a similar job to my Hobie 20. The gel coat won't cure unless protected from the air with a mold release (not the green fuzzy stuff, but what the boat came out of in the first place). The stuff I use is purple (I forget the name) and is available at West Marine. You spray it over the wet gel coat and that allows it to cure very quickly - 12 to 24 hours depending on the hardener mix. Without this buffer, you could be waiting weeks for it to cure. Once the gel coat is fully hardened, you just wash and buff off the mold release which has dried to a film coating.