Prepping for paint
 

Should I gelcoat over bare fiberglass areas of the hull while I am applying filler and prepping hull for primer and paint or just filler over the the low areas with fiberglass?

Good question that I would like to know

I have no experience with gelcoat but my understanding is that you would need to do some fairing work on the gelcoat if you are putting it on outside of a mold. It seems like you could just fill & fair and them prime. Pick the appropriate fairing compound you shouldn't need the intermediate step of gelcoat. You could tint your fairing compound if you are looking for a more uniform color but it probably wouldn't matter if you are going over it with new primer and paint.

That's what I will do, just wasn't sure for strength and there is a large bare area I will be repairing on the forward keel would you think it would be beneficial to gel coat that or just primer and paint over the new fiberglass