I did use acetone to clean the hulls after I finished sanding. One of the big reasons that I decided to take all of the bottom paint off was when I wiped acetone on it, it caused the paint to break down some making the smooth area very rough.

After reading everyone's post I took off the gel coat that never set up, resanded the area, and reapplied a new batch of gel coat. This time I put a couple of heat lamps over the repairs making sure that the area was warm enough for everything to "kick". (It's still 50's here in Virginia) Last night I took a look at my new repair and found it to be hard as a rock.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, and all of the valuable information.

Alec