To rehash the chain plate repair, here is a shot of the severely cracked gel coat. It was cracked so deep that the wood core was wet.

The second picture shows the fiberglass ground away along with a very thin layer of the wood core. I then taped plastic over it. Then, every day for two weeks I lifted the plastic and wiped it dry. The core was desert dry after that. I used a light fiber glass mat and resin to rebuild the deck. After that cured, I used a thickened, and I mean really thickened, resin and built the deck up slightly higher than the original. After that cured I sanded it down, using a sanding pad used for drywall, as it was long enough to make a nice even and level sanding job in relation to the original decking. Yes, after that was done, I still had to fill in a couple of low spot and resand.

Then I located the positions for the new stainless steel base and backing plates. This should eliminate the causes and stresses that created the crazing in the first place. I am pleased to report that they were placed perfectly. Yay for me.

Finally, here is the finished product, all primed for painting. The product is seemless to the original hull. The only draw back is that when I applied the primer, there came a big gust of wind that dropped grit in the wet paint. Oh well.