Preparation is the key to a good job. Take your time to get everything ready before mixing the gel coat. A helper will make the final job of putting the gel and glass down easier.
Taping
1) Run masking tape where you want the keel strip to go. We'll call this the Guide Strip "A". As the top two photos shows the Masking Tape Gide Strip should be the same width as the fiberglass tape you plan to use.
1.5" or 2" fiberglass tape are the standard widths for keel strips. Wider is not always better. The final gel coated area will be half and inch wider then the fiberglass tape.
If you need extra reinforcement you can add a thiner width piece of fiberglass tape before adding the final piece of fiberglass tape. This second layer will add an additional hour or two of work and additonal weight.
2) Put a 2" strip of masking tape about 1" away from each side of the Guide Strip "B & C". We'll call this the Mask Strip. The bottom two photos show the three strips of Masking tape.
3) Put a 1" strip "D & E" evenly 1/4" from the Guide Strip so it overlaps the two inch pieces of masking tape "B & C".
4) This allows 1/2" of extra space outside of the fiberglass tape for gel tapering and because the fiberglass is never perfectly even.
5) Remove the Guide Strip (photo bottom right). This will be called the Masked Area.
6) Another 2" strip of tape can be added outside of the Mask Strip to stop drips.
